DATE=11/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIAN PRESIDENT / ACEH (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255826
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Speaking to foreign journalists in Jakarta
(Thursday), Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid gave his
qualified support to the idea of an independence referendum
in the troubled northern province of Aceh, where separatist
guerillas have been pushing for statehood since the 1970's.
But as Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, other officials
in the government say such a referendum is still a long way
off.
TEXT: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid says, in
principle, the people of Aceh do have a right to vote on
their political future -- but it is not just their
decision. Mr. Wahid says the decision has to be weighed by
all sectors of Indonesian society.
/// WAHID ACT ///
The government will decide whether to have a
referendum or not. And the government will consult
the local legislature, the bureaucracy, the military,
so it's not easy -- it's not easy to propose a
referendum.
/// END ACT ///
But Indonesia's foreign minister, Alwi Shihab, speaking to
reporters after President Wahid's comments, said a plan to
hold a referendum in Aceh was "very unlikely." Instead,
Mr. Shihab says the government will concentrate on
regaining the trust of the Acehnese people after years of
human rights abuses by the Indonesian military.
/// SHIHAB ACT ///
You know I don't think the people of Aceh themselves
would like to have a referendum. The frustration is
not that they want to separate from Indonesia, but
the injustice, the malpractices, and I think if we
can remedy those malpractices, they would like to be
part of Indonesia.
/// END ACT ///
There has been a rising tide of separatist sentiment in
Aceh since 1989, when the Indonesian military undertook a
mission to crush the rebel "Free Aceh Movement." In the
process, human rights officials say at least two thousand
people have been killed or have simply disappeared.
Analysts say the military's tactics have done more to fuel
Aceh's push for statehood than deter it.
Observers also say that push for independence was
reinforced when the Indonesian government allowed a
referendum to be held in the disputed territory of East
Timor -- which led to East Timor's separation from
Indonesia last month.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across Aceh
Thursday to demand a referendum be held. The protests are
the first since at least 19 people were injured earlier
this week when Indonesian troops shot into a crowd of
demonstrators who were trying to set a government building
and police post on fire in the town Meulaboh.
In a gesture by Jakarta, the Indonesian military announced
Thursday that it would begin a phased withdrawal of all
troops sent to Aceh to quell the separatist unrest.
(Signed)
NEB/PN/KL
04-Nov-1999 12:36 PM EDT (04-Nov-1999 1736 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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