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| Southeast Asia |
| International Monitors Move Out of Aceh |
| 2003-05-12 |
| International monitors left Aceh province early Monday ahead of a deadline set by the Indonesian government for rebels fighting there to lay down their arms or face a military crackdown. "Head for the hills, boys, the balloon's about to go up!" The move came as negotiators held last-minute meetings with Indonesian government and rebel leaders to salvage a fragile five-month peace pact. The monitors departed apparently out of concern for their safety in light of a possible resumption of hostilities. Apparently? They had no desire to be the jelly in the sandwich. The 50 Thai and Filipino monitors were moved to Medan in North Sumatra, according to David Gorman, a negotiator with the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center, which brokered the Dec. 9 peace agreement. ``They are being relocated until we see what happens ... If we have positive results they will come back. I'm trying to be hopeful,'' he told The Associated Press. A Geneva based NGO, a hopeful but clueless westerner in an eastern land, rebels, gummint troops, and religion -- mix in a beautiful girl and I've got a direct-to-cable movie script already half-written. In addition to laying down their weapons, the government wants the rebels to accept autonomy instead of full independence. Negotiators said rebel leaders have expressed some willingness to accept autonomy but are reluctant to lay down their arms until the government withdraws to defensive positions as required by the Dec. 9 pact. "You go first!" The pact to end the 26-year civil war — which has killed nearly 12,000 people on the northern tip of Sumatra island, about 1,200 miles northwest of Jakarta — has appeared to unravel in recent weeks. Last week the government announced it was sending more troops to the province and had readied a presidential decree allowing it to Good plan to minimize civilian causalities? Good grief, man, this is Indonesia! Rebels issued a statement calling on their fighters to return to their bases and for citizens to halt all activities starting Monday. The rebels have 3,000 to 10,000 troops in the province, while the government has more than 30,000 troops. The peace pact was signed with much fanfare, and in its first few months effectively ended the civil war. But violence has intensified in the past two months, with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement. The government says rebels have used the halt in fighting to promote independence, while the rebels accuse the military of attacking supporters of the pact. And both were right! The presence of large reserves of oil and gas in Aceh has intensified the fight over who controls the region. Ah, I knew we'd get to the heart of the matter at some point! |
| Posted by:Steve White |