- Indonesia's rebellious province of Aceh hopes to see independence
before the end of 2004 despite a bitter division among separatist
leaders, the secretary general of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said
on Tuesday.
"Before I die, I would like to see an independent, peaceful Aceh
and a good neighbour to Indonesia. I promise you that," the Kuala
Lumpur-based Teuku Don Zulfahri told Reuters in an interview.
"Insha-Allah (God willing), we will see an independent Aceh during
Gus Dur's government," said Zulfahri, referring to Indonesia's President
Abdurrahman Wahid whose term would end in 2004.
"We just have to...clear our image...and we have to unite ourselves
with other civil movements. GAM is divided because there are those
(who) struggle for their own benefit," said the 40-year-old father
of two and a former furniture businessman.
GROWING PRO-INDEPENDENCE SENTIMENT
Widespread human abuses by the Indonesian military have fuelled
pro-independence sentiment and calls for a referendum in Aceh, a
resource-rich and staunchly Moslem province in the northern part
of Sumatra and west of Peninsular Malaysia.
Thousands of people, mainly civilians, have died in a decades-long
conflict between troops and separatist rebels. Independence protesters
say the deaths continue despite Wahid's pledge for a peaceful solution.
The Acehnese have also argued nearly all the wealth the region
generates is siphoned off by Jakarta with hardly any spent on Aceh
itself. But last week, Jakarta announced it would sign on May 12
in Geneva a three-month ceasefire, raising hopes of an end to the
conflict. Zulfahri, who migrated to Malaysia in 1981, said he supported
the ceasefire but remained cautious.
"You know the existence of GAM is to fight for the re-establishment
of the state of Aceh," he said.
"The ceasefire agreement is fine, but what happens after that?
Will the Indonesian government look into the demand of the
people of Aceh....(that) the future will be decided by themselves,"
he said.
TRICKY PATH TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE
Zulfahri said the division among separatist leaders could make
independence in Aceh a difficult goal to achieve.
"The current problem we have is the ill elements within GAM. These
ill elements jeopardise our image to the point that we are being
ignored by the world," he said.
"The key to freedom in Aceh...there must be countries in the world
to support us, but currently we don't have (any)," he said.
Migration of Acehnese to Malaysia started in early 1990 after
Indonesia embarked on a campaign to crush separatist rebels.
Zulfahri, who said he has been banned from entering Indonesia
since 1998, said about 5,000 Acehnese are living in Malaysia.
Tapol, a U.K.-based human rights group, said in a report entitled
"Human Rights Violations in Aceh 1999-2000" that GAM remained a
controversial organisation.
"The reality of who or what GAM actually are, who they claim to
be and how they operate is both unclear and controversial," it said.
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