Megawati begins Aceh peace mission

Acehnese community leaders say that as long as the military uses brutal measures, the independence movement will continue to thrive

By CNN's Atika Shubert in Jakarta
and wires

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has arrived in Aceh province amid tight security in an effort to end a longrunning separatist war that has left thousands dead.

Megawati landed in the provincial capital Banda Aceh and was immediately whisked away in a heavily guarded motorcade to the center of the city.

Outside the town's ornate Baiturrahman Mosque, where Megawati was scheduled to make a public address, armored vehicles and dozens of heavily armed soldiers stood guard, reported Associated Press.

The visit is Megawati's first to Aceh since becoming president on July 23 and is seen as test of the new president's goal of bringing stability to Indonesia.

Hopes the new government will find a political solution to the conflict have until now been constantly undermined by the military's brutally repressive methods to root out separatist rebels.

Despite Megawati's apologies to the people of Aceh for the human rights abuses committed under previous governments, the violence continues.

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Megawati's predecessor, ex-President Abdurrahman Wahid, in May last year signed a peace deal with the rebels. However, it collapsed in February amid rising violence.

An independent report by the Network for Indonesian Democracy, Japan, gave several accounts of what eyewitnesses say was a military organized massacre in August.

According to the report, Indonesian troops lined up the men in an East Aceh village and gunned them down, killing more than 40 people, including a young child.

"They asked us to line and squat down," said one eyewitness in the report.

"One man shot all of the people while another one shot at our homes. I was in the last line. My friend fell against me. I felt that I was shot and I fainted. After they shot us, they left. I was awakened by the sound of a woman crying."

"I am always afraid now," said the eyewitness. "I can't sleep. I can't eat because I keep remembering it."

Government approach

Megawati's government has taken a two-pronged approach to tackling the Aceh problem.

On the one hand, the government is offering economic incentives and greater political freedom to lure Acehnese away from independence.

On the other, the military has cracked down on the Free Aceh movement by turning their anger on the civilian population that supports them. Acehnese community leaders say that as long as the military uses brutal measures, the independence movement will continue to thrive.

"It's a question of oppression by one country toward another," said Faisal Ridha, spokesperson for the student led separatist movement, Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), in a recent statement.

"If this core problem is not dealt with, the conflict will continue and Jakarta's enticement to provide a larger amount of money for Aceh will not be fulfilled."

Mark of respect

Megawati is expected to meet resistance from separatist-minded opponents in Aceh

Megawati is scheduled to return from Aceh Saturday evening.

She will be meeting with community groups, specially selected by the Governor of Aceh, Abdullah Puteh. She will also be meeting with police and military commanders in the area.

It is unclear whether she will be meeting with members of the political arm of the Free Aceh movement.

The president is also expected to urge the Acehnese to accept recently passed laws granting the province a greater chunk of revenues from its natural resources, including large natural gas reserves that are being tapped by U.S. oil giant Exxon-Mobil Corp.

Under the new laws, the Acehnese -- most of whom are staunchly Muslim -- also have the right to impose Islamic sharia law.

Even though 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, the Acehnese practice a more conservative version of Islam than the rest of the country.

In a sign of respect to the Acehnese, Megawati wore an Islamic headscarf when she landed.