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(From The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri)
Wahid: Attack will force Aceh rebels to negotiate
Shigefumi Takasuka
Yomiuri
A military operation in Aceh Province, Indonesia, has been launched as a necessary evil to force separatist rebels back to the negotiating table with the central government, former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday at a Tokyo hotel.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on May 19 ordered Indonesia's largest military campaign since it invaded East Timor in 1975 to subdue guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) after talks in Tokyo failed to salvage a five-month-old internationally mediated cease-fire in the remote province on Sumatra island.
Although he did not support Megawati's decision to order a military assault in the oil- and gas-rich province, "you have to understand the attack is intended to (bring) the GAM back to the negotiation table. Every day, leaders of the GAM side surrender," said Wahid in an interview with The Daily Yomiuri.