Word: gam
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...additional 1,000 soldiers and 260 national police to join an estimated 9,000 local police officers to help stabilize the restive province. At least 16 people have been killed in shootings and grenade attacks that have heightened suspicions between former separatist rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the military. "The authorities need to ensure security and make sure the elections will be held in an atmosphere that is conducive," says Usman Hamid, head of the human rights watchdog Kontras, based in Jakarta. "If not spoilers could undermine the process...
...tsunami left more than 123,000 dead in Indonesia's Aceh province. But when negotiators in Helsinki last week announced a breakthrough in talks between separatist rebels and the Indonesian government, it appeared that some good might come from the tragedy. The Free Aceh Movement, known as GAM, offered to drop its demand for independence. "There's not a single member of the GAM negotiating team who hasn't lost family members in the tsunami," says Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who advised the rebel negotiators in Finland. "There's a very deep sense of loss and the suffering...
...While GAM is willing to relinquish its goal of complete independence, the rebels have rejected Jakarta's formulation for provincial autonomy, saying they want much more local control of Acehnese affairs...
...GAM wants to form its own political party and run in elections after a peace agreement is signed. Current law, however, bars those who have been involved in separatist activity from taking part in local elections...
...Years of fighting have left both sides deeply suspicious of each other. On Feb. 20 an Indonesian soldier was killed and seven others wounded in what both sides say was an unprovoked attack by their opponents. "It is an indication that GAM doesn't care about Helsinki or rebuilding," claims Major Sandy, who commands a detachment of Indonesian marines in the area. "They just want to attack." Despite the tsunami, real peace won't be possible until the two sides overcome this visceral distrust...