Indonesia says Aceh, Irian Jaya policies on track
SINGAPORE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia's policies to tackle separatism
and religious conflicts are on the right track, the country's Chief
Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.
But he stressed that Indonesia's stance on separatism was clear.
It "must be stopped and defeated," he said at a seminar in Singapore.
The sprawling archipelago has been mired in violence -- particularly in
Irian Jaya, Aceh in northern Sumatra, East Timor, Maluku and Kalimantan --
since the downfall of hardline former President Suharto in 1998.
East Timor voted for independence in 1999, a poll that sparked months
of violence.
The central government has offered a greater share of revenues and some
powers of autonomy to try to heal the rifts with other regions pressing
for independence.
"The implementation of conflict resolution in both Aceh and Irian Jaya
is on the right track and progress is being made," Yudhoyono said.
Rebels have been fighting Indonesia's army for a quarter of a century
in Aceh, saying Jakarta had exploited the resource-rich province for years but
given little in return.
Clashes last year killed some 1,500 people, mostly civilians.
As part of Indonesia's plan to calm the staunchly Muslim territory, the
government has given an autonomy package to Aceh which includes implementation of Islamic Sharia law.
But residents and analysts said the move was unlikely to end decades of
bloodshed in the territory, as most Acehnese were already practising
Sharia law.
In remote Irian Jaya, the unresolved murder of separatist chief Theys
Eluay late last year has also bolstered calls for independence, pouring cold
water on Jakarta's efforts to win over locals by granting greater autonomy.
Yudhoyono said Indonesia had deployed more than 50 battalions of security personnel to the various troubled regions.
"But these security measures cannot solve the delicate problems of
communal conflict, unless this is followed by effective rehabilitation and
reconciliation efforts," he said.
Much of the religious and communal violence to hit the world's most
populous Muslim nation stems from political and economic grievances that were
forcibly suppressed during the three-decade iron rule of Suharto.
Those grievances burst open in 1998 when Suharto fell, especially in
outlying eastern regions where Muslims and Christians are roughly equally
represented.
Muslims make up 85-90 percent of the multi-ethnic country's 210 million
people.
Yudhoyono said to a certain degree, these conflicts had occurred in the
wake of reform and democratisation.
"To ensure Indonesia emerges successfully and rapidly from the multi-dimensional crisis at a political, economic, social level,
fundamental reforms are now being implemented," he said.
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