DATE=11/8/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ACEH REFERENDUM (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255925
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Up to 600-thousand people rallied in
Indonesia's northern province of Aceh,(ah-chay) in the
largest-ever show of support for an independence
referendum. As Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta,
the Acehnese want last August's ballot in East Timor
to serve as a precedent for their own vote.
TEXT: Chanting "freedom, freedom," hundreds of
thousands of people rallied in the provincial capital
of Banda Aceh, packing the areas around
the city's mosque, local parliament and along a river.
Witnesses say most of the demonstrators were from
villages outside the capital and the
crowd included farmers, students and women wearing
traditional Muslim shawls. Some demonstrators wore red
headbands bearing the
word "referendum."
Police and security forces remained largely out of
sight, and no incidents of violence were reported at
the demonstration. A local police
commander estimated the crowd to number 600 thousand -
- which is roughly 15 percent of the province's total
population.
It was the largest rally pushing for an independence
referendum ever to be held in the province.
Separatist rebels from the "Free Aceh
Movement" have been fighting for statehood since the
1970's. But when Indonesian troops launched a
crackdown on the movement in 1989 the group began to
receive more support from ordinary Acehnese. Human
rights officials say at least two thousand people have
died or disappeared in the 10 years the military has
occupied Aceh.
Many Acehnese are now looking at the United Nations
supervised ballot in East Timor as a precedent for an
independence vote of their own.
East Timor was granted independence from Indonesia
last month, after 24 years of civil war, sparked by
the 1975 invasion by Indonesian
forces.
But Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid says a
referendum in Aceh is not going to happen anytime
soon. President Wahid says bringing an end to
separatist unrest in Aceh is one of the main
priorities of his new government. But he says it is
too soon to consider whether a referendum should be
held.
Nevertheless, Mr. Wahid ordered Indonesian troops,
sent in to quell the unrest, to be withdrawn from the
province. He is also promising a full investigation
into the July massacre of more than 50 people, that a
government fact-finding team said was committed by
Indonesian soldiers. (Signed)
NEB/PN/FC/PLM
08-Nov-1999 04:41 AM EDT (08-Nov-1999 0941 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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