 Indonesia's military says it has shot dead four separatist rebels in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province while government and rebel leaders are engaged in cease-fire talks in Finland. Military spokesman Edi Sulistiadie says Army infantry shot dead the four Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas during a skirmish in the village of Tanjong Punti in the east of the region. He says the clash broke out after soldiers spotted the four trying to "disturb" residents in the village. Mr Sulistiadie says one of those killed is Amin Syarif, a 40-year-old rebel commander.
Asked why the clash had occurred despite the ongoing talks in Finland, Mr Sulistiadie said: "The current position of the Indonesian Armed Forces is defensive-active. They fired at us first, so why shouldn't we fire back?" However, rebel sources say that the four had been in the village to meet relatives. They had assumed that they would not be captured by authorities while cease-fire talks are ongoing. Upon their arrival, armed Indonesian soldiers immediately surrounded their homes. A skirmish then broke out.
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Mr Sulistiadie also accuses the rebels of shooting dead a resident and critically wounding another in the northern Aceh district of Bireuen after they refused to donate money for the separatists' cause. The Finland talks have resulted in an agreement to work towards a lasting peace deal to help rebuild the province, which took the brunt of the December 26 tsunami. Indonesia is offering limited autonomy for the gas-rich province of 4 million people on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. The GAM has rejected that in the past but the Finnish mediators says the offer forms the basis of the talks. "We have an in-principle agreement to meet again in the near future to discuss a comprehensive peace settlement under the umbrella of self-autonomy," Indonesia's Information Minister Sofyan Djalil said.
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The Finnish mediator, former president Martti Ahtisaari who has previously brokered peace in conflict zones such as Kosovo, says the next round of Helsinki talks would happen soon. "I don't expect it to take months," he said. |