Violence Surges Again in Indonesian Province

Renewed killing in Aceh province, including the death of a 6-year-old boy, raised fears Friday that a peace accord aimed at ending 26 years of warfare there is in jeopardy.

Authorities said 13 people were killed in fighting this week in Indonesia’s northernmost province, the largest toll in a single week since the peace deal was signed Dec. 9.

The surge in violence follows a series of attacks on peace monitors of the Joint Security Committee, which includes representatives of both sides in the conflict and is overseeing implementation of the cease-fire. On Sunday, a mob demonstrating against the monitors burned down the committee’s south Aceh office.

The rebels and the Indonesian government blame each other for the escalation of violence. Authorities contend that all 13 deaths were caused by rebel attacks.

The government has threatened to resume combat operations in the province. Indonesian Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Thursday that he would submit a battle plan to President Megawati Sukarnoputri next week.

“We are seeking a way out so that this military operation will not happen,” Yudhoyono told reporters. “But if peace efforts fail, the military solution is inevitable.”

The nationalist Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for the province’s independence since 1976. Although the rebels are Muslims, they apparently are not aligned with other militant Islamic groups in the region, which are seeking to form an Islamic state across much of Southeast Asia.

In 2000, top Al Qaeda leaders visited Aceh in the hope of forming an alliance and establishing a base there, but rebel leaders rejected the overture. Indonesia’s secular government has fought to hang on to the province in part because it is one of the richest in the country. A large natural gas field operated by Exxon Mobil generates much of the wealth. At one point, tax revenue from Aceh totaled 15% of the national budget.

Last year, the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue mediated the peace accord between the two sides. The agreement has the backing of the United States.

Under the pact, the government is supposed to withdraw its troops to their barracks and the rebels must deposit their arms in holding areas known only to them and the peace monitors. If the peace holds, elections are to be held in June 2004.

After the cease-fire was signed, life in Aceh began returning to normal for the first time in decades. Many residents began staying out on the streets past dark and going to the beach on weekends. The number of killings related to the conflict dropped from about 230 a month to about 15.

The first sign of trouble came in March, when a crowd of protesters appeared at one of the security committee’s offices. Members of the mob beat up two monitors, one of whom had been appointed by the government and the other by the rebels.

On Sunday, a crowd of 750 anti-rebel demonstrators staged a protest outside the monitors’ south Aceh office and set it on fire. The building was destroyed.

On Monday, hundreds of protesters threatened monitors in other parts of Aceh if they did not pack up and leave. In northern Aceh, a group of 40 angry police officers stormed into another office, kicked one monitor and occupied the building for eight hours. That night, the Joint Security Committee withdrew all its monitors to Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

Supporters of the peace accord say the violence appears to have been orchestrated by interests in the province who stand to benefit if the conflict continues.

On Tuesday, battles broke out again between the rebels and government troops. Nine rebels were killed that day in four incidents, said Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno, a military spokesman in Banda Aceh.

Thursday morning, two rebels and a soldier died in another clash. A few hours later, Komarno said, 30 rebels attacked an army post near a village. Fahmi, a 6-year-old boy, was caught in the crossfire and killed. His father and a soldier were wounded.

“It is clear that the vast majority of the people in Aceh support the peace process and the results it has so far yielded,” the Henry Dunant Center said in a statement issued by its Aceh office after Sunday’s fire. “Unfortunately, there are some who have chosen to challenge the efforts of the Joint Security Committee through violence.

“Those elements are apparently seeking to undermine the peace process, and to ruin the best chance for a solution to a conflict that has raged here for nearly three decades, claiming 4,000 lives just in the last two years.”