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Indonesian Gov't Reiterates no Extension of Truce With GAM
As peace talks between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) resumed on Tuesday, Jakarta announced that it will not extend the cease-fire with the movement when the truce expires next week.
"It is certain that the Humanitarian Pause will not be extended, " the Jakarta Post daily Wednesday quoted Defense Minister Mahfud MD as saying.
The minister made the statement Tuesday after meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid, the report said.
The cease-fire was first signed by representatives of both sides in Geneva in May last year. It took effect in June last year and was extended until January 15, 2001.
But the cease-fire agreement has not sopped the clashes between the government security personnel and the GAM members and more than 250 people were reportedly killed in the second half of last year.
However, Mahfud said the government would continue to hold talks with the Acehnese but from now on would not limit them to GAM, which has been fighting for a free Islamic state since the mid 1970s.
"We will negotiate again, not only with GAM but also with other groups among the Acehnese people," he said.
Meanwhile, he said, starting on January 16, Aceh police will begin a "law enforcement" campaign across the province, but the campaign would not be a "military operation."
Reports said, despite the resume of the peace talks, violence continued in the province with a woman shot died in Sungai Raya district in East Aceh late on Monday.
A total of 40 people have been killed in Aceh this year, the report said.
The GAM has been fighting against the central government in the past 25 years for independence. Thousands of people have been killed during the clashes between the government troops and the Acehnese rebels.
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