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Troops close in on Aceh rebels
By Amy Chew
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Security forces in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province are closing in on separatist rebels in a bid to pressure the group to sign a deal to end decades of bloodshed. Dozens of rebels from Free Aceh movement (GAM), including Muzakir Manaf, leader of its armed wing, have been encircled for more than a week in Paya Cot Trieng village, north Aceh, by 500 to 1,000 troops. The troops have fired mortars and rockets from helicopters in trying to force them to surrender. Indonesia's military said the siege was a message to GAM to sign a peace agreement within the time frame set by the government, according to international mediator Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue of Geneva and GAM itself. "This (siege) is meant to give support to the government's policy of solving Aceh's problem peacefully," military spokesman Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters on Thursday. The siege is the toughest action taken against the rebels in recent years. The government wanted to sign a peace deal with GAM before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on November 6 but the rebels delayed it until December. GAM instead offered a ceasefire, which the government refused to recognize, and subsequently encircled the rebel held area. No surrenderThe besieged rebels vowed they would not surrender even though security forces were now within 200-500 meters of their stronghold. "GAM will not surrender. We have enough supplies to hold out for a long time," rebel spokesman, Sofyan Daud, told CNN by telephone from his cornered headquarters in Paya Cot Trieng village. Daud said the mortars and rockets fired by the military missed their targets. "The shooting continues. The situation has heightened," said Daud. He claimed the military had deployed 10,000 troops to encircle his group which stood at around 600 members. Daud said it was up to GAM's political leaders to decide on the peace agreement and that the armed wing would respect any deal made by them. "We will abide by any agreement signed by our leaders." GAM is estimated to have 3,000 members backed by 2,700 weapons. Resource-rich Aceh has been wracked by fighting between separatist rebels and security forces since 1976, which has left over 10,000 people dead. Most of the victims were civilians. This year alone, more than 1,000 people have died in the conflict. Greater autonomyJakarta has refused to grant independence to Aceh but instead gave greater autonomy to the province of four million people, including bigger revenue-sharing of its natural resources in an effort to ease separatists tensions, but to no avail. The government had high hopes the peace agreement would end the violence in Aceh. Government negotiator, Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying November 23 had been set as the new date for signing the peace agreement. Gam said the group would not sign any deal under duress. "We will not sign something if we are in a state of duress. This siege is very bad in trying to forge a peace agreement, " Tengku Kamaruzzaman, GAM negotiator, told CNN by telephone from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. "Indonesia is still using violent means to solve Aceh's problem. They have not shown sincerity in resolving Aceh's conflict peacefully," Kamaruzzaman added.
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