DATE=12/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - ACEH (L-ONLY)(CQ)
NUMBER=2-256841
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=BANDA, ACEH
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At least two people were wounded in the
Indonesian province of Aceh when government soldiers
opened fire on a group of people celebrating the
anniversary of the founding of the rebel separatist
movement. As Patricia Nunan reports from the
provincial capital of Banda, Aceh, the clash comes
after weeks of increasing tension leading up to the
separatist anniversary.
TEXT: Witnesses to the incident in the town of Sigli,
60 kilometers east of the provincial capital, say
dozens of demonstrators were trying to drive past the
military barracks waving flags of the guerilla "Free
Aceh" movement.
However Indonesian soldiers blocked the convoy of
trucks and motorcycles. Witnesses say the soldiers
first fired into the air to warn the demonstrators,
then shot directly at them.
The demonstration comes on the 23rd anniversary of the
founding of the separatist "Free Aceh" movement. The
separatist army declared Aceh an independent Islamic
state in 1976 and has been fighting a guerilla
campaign against Indonesian authority in the province
ever since.
In a special ceremony the separatists raised their
movement's flag at a rebel base near Sigli to mark the
anniversary. The guerillas also read a statement from
the leader of the "Free Aceh" movement, Hasan di Tiro,
calling on the United Nations to help resolve the
situation in Aceh peacefully.
But Mr. di Tiro also warned that all Acehnese should
be ready to face attack by their enemies, adding that
the "Free Aceh" movement was prepared to make every
inch of Aceh a field of war if their demands for
independence are not answered.
Mr. di Tiro remains in Sweden where he has lived in
exile since 1979.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid says the
government has the ability to crush Aceh's rebel
movement but that is not the approach he wants to
take.
//Begin Wahid act.//
If we want to stamp out those people that's the easy
answer, but it is not the right answer. We have to
find the right answer by trying to make
reconciliations. By trying to establish dialogue more
ourselves. That is why sometimes it looks very slow.
//End Wahid act.//
Calls for independence in Aceh have been fueled by the
decision by the Indonesian government to grant East
Timor independence after the people there voted to
separate from Indonesia in a special referendum. Many
Acehnese are now demanding the same rights of self-
determination.
Human rights groups say the Acehnese are resentful of
the central government because at least two-thousand
people have died at the hands of Indonesian soldiers
sent to Aceh to crush the separatist movement.
Also the human rights groups say the province sees
little of the revenue derived from its natural gas and
oil deposits.
President Wahid has said in the past that a referendum
could be held in Aceh but not one based on the
question of independence. Instead Indonesian
authorities want to hold a vote on whether Aceh would
accept a special autonomy plan for the province,
giving the people more of a say in their own affairs
versus maintaining the status quo. (Signed)
NEB/PN/PLM
04-Dec-1999 10:02 AM EDT (04-Dec-1999 1502 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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