Jakarta – Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto would welcome the possible return of Hassan Tiro, the self-exiled leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to the province.
"Yes. He (Hassan) has the right to come here in accordance with the memorandum of understanding (on Aceh peace). He will face no legal consequences if he visits Indonesia," Endriartono said at the State Palace.
Endriartono said he had been informed about the possible arrival of Hassan, the senior GAM leader, who has been living in Sweden and been granted citizenship there.
The TNI chief hopes Hassan will visit Indonesia "as a good man" who supports the peace process in the tsunami-devastated province. GAM leaders in Aceh could not be reached for comment.
The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which oversees the implementation of the peace deal in the province, has called on Acehnese leaders in exile to come back to Aceh due to improved security following the signing of the accord.
Mohammed Nur Djuli and Bakhtiar Abdullah were the first GAM leaders in exile to return to Aceh.
The peace-building process has continued to pick up pace as both sides have implemented three of the four disarmament and troop withdrawal stages. GAM is currently handing over more weapons to the AMM, a process that will be completed on Thursday.
Endriartono said the TNI was committed to meeting the targets set out in the peace agreement, which was signed in August.
He said that the TNI would withdraw more than 5,500 troops from Aceh soon after GAM completed the third round of weapons decommissioning. The police, meanwhile, will withdraw 1,350 officers from the province.
"We accepted some of the weapons but rejected others. As of now, however, I can see their bona fides and, hopefully, it will continue," Endriartono said.
GAM surrendered 570 firearms in the first two stages of disarmament. They are required to hand in 840 weapons in four stages up until the end of the year.
Under the peace agreement, Indonesia must pull out some 6,000 of its 27,000 troops from Aceh. About 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police officers are to remain in the province after the end of the withdrawals on Dec. 31.
In another development, head of the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the President had issued a decree governing the involvement of former GAM members in construction and rehabilitation work.
"This is a very important decree, particularly as regards supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in Aceh," Kuntoro said in Jakarta, referring to Presidential Decree No. 15/2005 on the implementation of the memorandum of understanding between the government and GAM.
The government has promised to provide former GAM members access to the construction work – a move that is expected to accelerate the reintegration of the former rebels into society.
Kuntoro also said Susilo was scheduled to visit Aceh to mark the first anniversary of the tsunami. There will be a number of events held to commemorate the disaster, Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani said.
Both the government and GAM agreed to return to the negotiating table after the Dec. 26 tsunami, which swept Aceh's coastline leaving more than 167,000 people dead or missing.