Word: jakarta
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...peace zone." Last week, under the auspices of a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization, Indonesian officials and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) turned up in Tokyo for a last-ditch attempt to head off renewed conflict. But the chances of the two sides reaching a compromise are minuscule. Jakarta is promising only a measure of autonomy, and insists that the separatist group first unconditionally disarm. GAM, which insists on independence for Aceh, will almost certainly refuse to do this in the face of one of the largest military buildups in Indonesian history. The army's objective this time around...
...While ordinary Acehnese are scared, they are also angry. That anger is directed primarily at the government in Jakarta, of course, which has never convinced the Acehnese it cares much about them. But there is also much resentment at how GAM leaders may well have blown a once-in-a-quarter-century chance to radically improve the lives of their people...
...hostilities. Under a cease-fire brokered last December by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, GAM agreed to abandon its 26-year armed struggle and accept autonomy as a starting point for negotiations. But GAM's leaders - possibly emboldened by East Timor's successful breakaway from Jakarta in 1999 - continue to vow that Aceh will one day be a sovereign entity. What's more, they have yet to begin disarming...
...Army chief Ryamizard Ryacudu said the soldiers convicted of killing Theys deserved medals instead of the light prison sentences they received.) And with a presidential election next year, leading politicians are loath to defy the generals. In this environment, says Sidney Jones, who heads the International Crisis Group's Jakarta office, generals like Ryamizard see a crushing victory in Aceh as critical to reclaiming the military's former lofty status. GAM, sadly, is the perfect adversary. The rebels squandered most of the goodwill in Aceh by extorting funds from civilians and committing scores of their own atrocities. GAM has about...
...taken another body blow with these latest arrests. But we can't afford to be complacent. We still don't know what capacity they've got out there." His warning was echoed by Indonesian police and, on Thursday morning, underscored by a pipe-bomb explosion outside the United Nations' Jakarta headquarters. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but one senior security official with a large Western conglomerate offered a disturbing theory: "It's a little reminder from JI: 'We may be down now, but we'll be back...