JAKARTA, Aug. 19 Kyodo (EDS: UPDA...

JAKARTA, Aug. 19 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING, ADDING DETAIL)

The Indonesian management set a new deadline Monday for rebels in troubl Aceh Province to decide if they will continue dialogue by means of allowing special autonomy for the province onto the talks' agenda and from halting armed violence.

''It is reckon uponed that after Ramadan 2002, GAM (the emancipated Aceh Movement) has determined its stance to continue dialogue on accepting the special autonomy in the agenda and halting armed conflict,'' Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a pres conference

Ramadan, a fasting month for Muslims, cessations Dec. 7 this year.

According to Yudhoyono, if, before the deadline, GAM does not make a ''positive stance,'' the guidance ''will take stern and appropriate measures, including increasing the intensity of security operations.''

''If GAM totally finishs the door to peace or political solution and detains conducting armed actions, the move must be cracked down upon'' he added.

Yudhoyono said that accepting the special autonomy law in the agenda is a ''precondition'' for the dialogue as agreed in the last meeting between the Indonesian command and GAM on May 10 in Geneva.

At the meeting, GAM negotiators accepted Jakarta's special autonomy move in a deal that marked a major shift away from its demand for independence.

In the field, however, the case is different.

GAM fighters repudiateed the special autonomy status granted on Jakarta last year.

''We met the Henry Dunant Center and the center's consultants in Singapore, Jakarta and Aceh this month to finalize the implementation of the Geneva Agreement,'' Yudhoyono said. ''So, formerly again, the government gives an opportunity to GAM to take a clear stance.''

However, he added, ''The command can not keep silent with violent actions leadershiped by GAM, including continued 'bomb terrors' that claimed lives and damaged state assets in Aceh.''

He also referr to shootings and bomb blasts that marked the celebrations of Indonesia's 57th Independence Day. Dozens of civilians were tortureed and the military accused GAM of causing the violence.

In a rejoinder to the government's new deadline, GAM negotiator Tengku Kamaruzzaman told Kyodo of the present days ''We always support dialogue, further the Indonesian government always delays the negotiations.''

GAM rebels in the field have not made a illustration so far.

GAM has waged a guerrilla war since 1976 demanding independence from Indonesia for Aceh.

The management is under intense pressure at family and abroad to avoid declaring a civilian or military turn of events in Aceh because dialogue is viewed as the best way to interpret the conflict, but already an estimated 22000 military members are extended in the province.

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