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A battle for the allegiance of the
living
By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - As the United States rides its
sudden wave of popularity in the world's most
populous Muslim country, Indonesia, the secular
government there has been handed a very hot
political potato. The government itself,
Americans, radical and mainstream Muslim groups,
the Indonesian military, and separatist rebels are
all engaged in a struggle to sway the allegiance
of the living in the staunchly Islamic province of
Aceh.
The contenders are generally seen to
be giving their best shots to the immediate
humanitarian mission. But the stakes, particularly
for the government, are much higher than simply
repairing the damage from the giant waves that hit
a region that, until only three weeks ago, was a
no-go war zone in effect under martial law and
closed to Westerners.
Against all odds,
the separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) are likely to be invited to the table in
Jakarta to discuss ending their 29-year armed
struggle for independence that has cost an
estimated 15,000 lives. Should President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono pull off such an invitation -
although a compromise is not yet in the cards - he
certainly will have worked a miracle.
For
the Americans, ironically, it is the presence of
their military on the ground in Aceh, Indonesia's
only official Islamic province, that is helping
fuel pro-US sentiments. About 150 US marines
onshore and more than 8,000 offshore are
supporting a relief effort that has so far
outstripped the Indonesian air force in terms of
its number of support missions.
Yet the
country's militant jihadi Islamist groups view
these US troops through a lens of hate. In an
effort to calm these tensions, the Indonesian
government on Wednesday told foreign military
forces to leave by the end of March and tightened
controls over the movement of international aid
workers. But despite Yudhoyono's assurances,
militants are on the ground in Aceh, where they
have previously been made unwelcome, branding
their Muslim credentials and striving to gain
moral ascendancy over the so-called "infidels".
They have quickly drawn a line in the Aceh soil,
warning foreigners not to cross it.
Speaking on behalf of Abu Bakar Ba'ashir,
allegedly the spiritual leader of the
al-Qaeda-linked Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah
(JI), Fauzan Al Anshari said, "It's dangerous,
this idea by Acehnese that US and Australian
forces are their guardian angels - more popular
than the TNI [Indonesian military]." Ba'ashir,
currently on trial in Jakarta on terrorism
charges, summed up his loathing for Americans in
2002 when he said, "I am a Muslim. They are
infidels."
Captain Larry Burt, who
commands the air wing aboard the command ship USS
Abraham Lincoln from which US military crews are
ferrying food, water and medicine to the province,
has been widely quoted as saying, "I don't see an
end to this for a long, long time.".However,
Anshari has warned that if "they" establish a
permanent base there, it will lead to trouble. "We
are suspicious of the presence of foreign soldiers
and their show of force," said Anshari, who leads
the militant Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia group.
It had been fondly imagined that the
militants would be smart enough not to portray
foreign troops as invaders, but Anshari quoted
Ba'ashir as saying he feared that the presence of
Australian and US troops in Aceh was like that of
"colonial invaders".
The Americans have
had to delay a planned deployment of 1,000 marines
to remote Meulaboh, a town almost totally
devastated and where half of its former population
were killed in the disaster. The marines were to
help provide water-purification services,
reconstruct power lines, restore hospitals, repair
roads and rebuild bridges in the town but were
prevented because they are on board the
multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme
Richard and, because navy landing craft would be
used to take them ashore, their arrival might seem
like an invasion.
The Islamic Defenders
Front (FPI), meanwhile, has suggested that
Australians helping with the relief effort could
somehow corrupt the local culture. FPI leader
Habib Rizeq Shihab has warned that when the US and
its allies give aid, they have particular
interests.
There is no love lost between
the separatist rebels and the radicals. In a press
release on Sunday the PNA/ASNLF, the so-called
government of Aceh in exile, deplored the arrival
in Aceh of members of the "thuggish" FPI, which it
describes as being made up of street hoodlums and
minor criminals. The group was established as a
militia by TNI generals on August 17, 1998, to act
as a vanguard against Indonesia's pro-democracy
activists.
In the wake of the tsunami, the
Indonesian military and GAM declared a notional
ceasefire but have since reported casualties in
clashes and have accused each other of using the
disaster as a pretext for a renewed offensive.
Neither claim has been independently verified. The
distrust between the two is hindering
international relief efforts. The TNI claims that
the rebels are disrupting aid efforts by
infiltrating refugee camps, impersonating soldiers
and extorting and stealing supplies from convoys.
The TNI says only defensive operations against GAM
are being conducted so that GAM cannot interrupt
the relief effort.
Yet even human-rights
organizations concede that troops have shown
dedication and compassion in addressing the
immediate needs of the survivors and been heavily
involved in the thankless task of collecting and
burying bodies. Officials estimate that the
disaster killed about 500 troops there.
Yet the radicals are also putting their
best foot forward in providing humanitarian
assistance. Most were flown to Aceh in US-built
Hercules C-130 troop and cargo carriers from the
Indonesian air force fleet. Only seven can fly
because of a US embargo on spare parts.
Asked in the provincial capital, Banda
Aceh, last week if it was true that a deal had
been struck over parts, Secretary of State Colin
Powell stuttered, "Well, I can't ... I can't get
too far into this because we're still working it
out. But the nature of the humanitarian crisis is
so great, and we're doing it in a way that still
puts controls on the remaining aircraft. Only a
few additional aircraft will be made serviceable
as a result of the arrangements I'm working on
now, maybe five more." So much for the US
commitment, which Powell has conceded is meant to
capture the hearts and minds of Muslims.
Though there have not yet been reports of
significant aid disruptions, aid workers,
journalists and the local population are concerned
about travel restrictions, security costs,
disrupted supply lines, and even the deliberate
withholding of aid. This first worry was enhanced
when the government announced on Thursday that
foreign aid workers will have to take military
escorts to areas of Aceh deemed unsafe. Foreign
aid workers and journalists also could be expelled
if they don't report their movements outside the
provincial capital, officials have said. The
disaster-mitigation task force based in Banda Aceh
has recorded at least 1,125 foreign relief workers
and 1,307 soldiers deployed in the province.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi
Annan, when seeing the devastation of Meulaboh for
himself, was moved to say, "Although we were
powerless to stop the tsunami, together we do have
the power to stop those next waves." But while the
giant waves off Aceh may have brought in their
wake a chance to resolve the long-running conflict
in the province, it seems far too soon for
optimism. Although GAM appears to be making the
right noises offstage, the TNI would be incensed
if the separatists were to survive by default the
long battle to crush them with force, and it is
likely to go the last mile to prevent a diplomatic
solution. GAM never makes a public comment on its
troop strengths, but the TNI estimates there are
only some 2,500 rebels left.
Foreign
Minister Hassan Wirajuda said in London on Monday
that a "gentlemen's agreement" had been struck
with the rebels. Claiming he sensed "optimism that
both sides are interested for reconciliation", the
minister said the rebels had agreed not to disrupt
the flow of aid.
Alwi Shihab, coordinating
minister for people's welfare and the overall
chief of relief efforts in Aceh, called the
current situation a "unique opportunity" for the
government to solve issues in Aceh and said the
government was communicating indirectly with the
rebels through a group of Muslim religious leaders
and scholars.
"We do hope they will join
efforts with us to rebuild Aceh," said Shihab.
"The GAM side will not be easy to convince. I hope
[the intermediaries] will be able to convince
them." Shihab added that the religious leaders
were trying to convince the rebels that Aceh
should be peaceful and prosperous. The
intermediaries will certainly not be foreign, he
said.
This week President Yudhoyono met
ambassadors from the United States, the United
Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Sweden and Libya to
sound them out on the conflict but reiterated that
it would be a matter for Indonesia to resolve.
Yet short of inviting GAM to take part in
the political process, Jakarta has little to offer
the remaining separatists. GAM wants independence
and has no interest in autonomy. Independence as
an alternative to autonomy is not an option, and
never will be.
There is a heavy price to
pay for leaving the Indonesian republic. Tiny East
Timor, which officially became an independent
state separate from Indonesia in 2002, is now one
of the poorest nations on the planet, having ceded
control over Timor Sea oil and gas reserves to
Australia. Indonesia's huge natural-gas fields, on
the other hand, are in Aceh, and the vast revenues
could be used to up the ante at the negotiating
table if a special autonomy is offered.
As
US-based Human Rights Watch points out, failure to
ensure the proper use of aid could quickly
attenuate international goodwill and, worse still,
spark Acehnese anger against Jakarta, which in
turn could lead to growing support for GAM.
Yudhoyono clearly has his work cut out for
him. At the same time, he will need to keep a lid
on the more radical and extreme leaders who, if
aid wasn't coming through, would say that the West
doesn't care and just exploits Muslims to keep
them poor.
Indonesia has been identified
as the main recruiting ground for frontline JI
cadres and future leaders. The radical leaders
appear able consistently to intimidate all levels
of officialdom. But although the president will
face challenges from both major opposition parties
for whatever he does, most observers believe that
he may still be able to move effectively against
the radicals, given the overwhelming mandate he
has from voters.
The ugly specter of the
radicals in Aceh - perhaps mirroring their
activity elsewhere in Indonesia, where they have
not only provoked sectarian violence but also
developed a network of local cells to plan and
carry out direct acts of terrorism - should
certainly be something for him to focus on.
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta
correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000,
has worked in Indonesia for 19 years in journalism
and editorial positions. He has been published by
the BBC on East Timor and specializes in
business/economic and political analysis in
Indonesia.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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