Kalla the brains behind Aceh peace talks: Book

Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/19/2008 11:50 AM  |  National

A newly launched book reveals the prominent role Vice President Jusuf Kalla played in promoting win-win talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group, bringing an end to nearly 30 years of armed conflict in the province.

Peace in Aceh, written by former justice and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin, was launched Friday, a day before his departure to Moscow for a new posting as the Indonesian ambassador to Russia.

The book provides in detail a dialogue process during the fifth round of negotiations, which led to the historic signing of the peace accord in Helsinki on Aug. 15, 2005.

"The book is taken from my daily notes during negotiations," Hamid said.

It explains how Vice President Jusuf Kalla briefed Indonesian representatives on negotiating without offending the GAM leaders. Hamid led the Indonesian team, which also included then communication minister Sofyan Djalil.

"Before going to the negotiation table, Pak Kalla always emphasized that peace was a good deed and should be carried out with a sincere heart," he recalled.

"He asked us to learn about Aceh in great detail. We were ordered to master a blind map of Aceh, to learn where Lhokseumawe or Sigli and other small towns were, to build up trust with GAM."

Hamid said the vice president had also supplied dozens of books and articles about Aceh from Jakarta.

Kalla also briefed the team on how to talk and read body language during the negotiations.

"Pak Kalla ordered me to look his eyes everyday as practice. Of course, it was difficult for me to do so but I had to," he said.

Hamid said he and Sofyan could not sleep for nights while searching for the answer to Kalla's quiz about what "MM" stood for.

"Kalla said 'how can you go to the negotiation if you don't know what the MM is?'.

The MM refers to Malik Machmud, the GAM prime minister, with whom Hamid and Sofyan held peace talks.

The negotiation on Aceh took place in Helsinki for seven months. It was mediated by Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland.

Hamid said the negotiation cost about Rp 3 billion, which was covered by Kalla since the state did not allocate a budget for the talks.

Kalla said in his remarks at the book launch that the talks with GAM leaders began in Amsterdam when he was still the chief welfare minister under President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Kalla also stressed the negotiation should be run face to face, having learnt from the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) for Aceh talks, which were unsuccessful.

"We had to watch their body language to be aware if they're willing," he said.

Kalla admitted he had read about the history of Aceh from various sources before initiating the peace talks.

"After reading one book, I found that a Bugis king once ruled in Aceh. It made me confident about resolving the conflict," he said.

"I didn't directly involve Javanese people in negotiations to avoid abusive language from GAM members."

He said he once asked the Australian ambassador to provide information from Australian scholar Damien Kingsbury, who was brought in by GAM as an expert in the negotiation.

"The ambassador asked me to read Damien's article at The Jakarta Post. By reading it, I was aware of his way of thinking."

Malik, who attended the book launch, praised Kalla's role in promoting the win-win negotiations.

Malik said he had watched Hamid's movements carefully during negotiations.

"I sat in front of Hamid. He did not talk much but he was busy looking at his cell phone," he said.

"His mouth often murmured, I presumed he was reading a magic spell. Now, I know he was speaking to Pak Kalla," he said.

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