[Kabar-indonesia] Yudhoyono Asks Aceh Monitors To Stay Through Voting [+JP: Freedom Tastes Good]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: JP: Freedom tastes good for pardoned GAM prisoners 

Indonesia Pres Asks Aceh Monitors To Stay Through Voting

JAKARTA, Aug. 2 (AP)--Indonesia's president has asked foreign monitors in 
Aceh 
to stay on through the province's critical elections expected later this 
year, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. 

The international Aceh Monitoring Mission, or AMM, was established in 
September 2005 to oversee a peace agreement between rebels and the government worked 
out after the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami which killed at least 131,000 in 
the region. 

The mission's financiers in Brussels are considering the request from 
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, spokeswoman Faye Belnis said. 

Aceh polling was initially set for August, but the timetable has been 
postponed 
while authorities carry out a census. It is now expected in November. 

Head of mission Pieter Feith has said both the Indonesian government and 
former rebels, known by their acronym GAM, had asked them to extend their mandate. 
Feith said staying longer "will not cause a problem for us," but said the 
final decision will be taken in Brussels. 

The devastating tsunami spurred efforts to end 29 years of fighting that 
killed 15,000 people. At talks last year in Finland, the rebels gave up their 
claim to independence and the government agreed to withdraw nearly half of its 
50,000 troops. 

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Freedom tastes good for pardoned GAM prisoners 

photo: Thirty former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who were 
recently released from prison, arrived back home Tuesday in Banda Aceh, 
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. JP/Nani Afrida 

Thirty former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who were recently 
released from prison, arrived back home Tuesday in Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh 
Darussalam.

Arriving on commercial flights, the former convicts were greeted by GAM 
officials, including former GAM finance minister Muhammad Usman Lampoh Awe and 
spokesman Munawarliza Zain, as well as a group from the Aceh Monitoring Mission 
(AMM). 

Abu Hindon, GAM's commander in Deli who was incarcerated in North Sumatra's 
Tanjung Gusta Penitentiary for his alleged role in the Medan bombing, was seen 
among the group. He was unable to hold back tears. 

Another former prisoner, Raju, said eight of them had been released from the 
penitentiary but three others remained. 

"I'm so happy to be free but I'm also sad since some of our friends are not 
yet free like us," said the 29-year-old Raju, who served two years of his 
eight-year term. 

"As a GAM member my job was to set the bomb, to ensure the soldiers did not 
only stay in Aceh but in other places as well," he said. 

Hundreds of former rebels were released from prison following the signing of 
a decree granting amnesty and unconditional release to members of GAM by 
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

The amnesty is a key condition of the landmark peace deal signed in Helsinki 
on Aug. 15. It has been granted to people who were involved with GAM, 
including Indonesian nationals and former Indonesian nationals who have taken up 
foreign citizenship. 

GAM spokesman Munawarliza said Tuesday that 34 former GAM members remained in 
a number of penitentiaries across the country. They were not granted amnesty 
by the government because they were imprisoned for crimes such as bombings, 
the possession of firearms and robbery. 

"We're working to ensure all GAM prisoners are released as required in the 
Helsinki peace deal," he said. 

He also hoped the government would continue to pay attention to former GAM 
convicts who had been released. "There's a need to provide the released 
prisoners with financial assistance so they can be independent." (JP/Nani Afrida) 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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