The
arrests came after President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed a decree
authorizing a military operation and imposed martial law in Aceh
province.
Top
Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Megawati "ordered
concerned authorities to carry out the integrated operations,"
including what was termed a security restoration operation, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
decree took effect at midnight (1700 GMT Sunday). Martial law will last
for six months but may be extended.
Military
authorities have been preparing for weeks for an attack and fighter
planes, warships and thousands of troops have been readied.
The
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for its part said it has ordered all fighters
to be on alert for an attack.
Yudhoyono
did not say when the operation would start. He told reporters GAM's
refusal to end its 27-year struggle for independence prompted the
decree.
"In
principle the Free Aceh Movement rejected fulfilling the requirements of
the government of Indonesia," he said, referring to three
conditions he set late Saturday.
Yudhoyono
said that based on a draft statement the rebels had prepared in Tokyo,
"it is very clear there is no willingness from GAM to accept the
Unitary State of Indonesia as the framework for a peaceful solution in
Aceh."
The
decree said a series of peace moves, including the granting of special
autonomy to Aceh "does not stop the Free Aceh Movement's intention
to break away from the Unitary State of Indonesia and to declare their
independence.
"It
is considered necessary to place the province... in a state of emergency
at the level of military emergency."
Just
a few hours earlier, the peace talks in Tokyo broke down.
Swiss-based
mediators the Henry Dunant Center (HDC), backed by the United States,
the European Union and Japan, called the meeting in a last-minute
attempt to avert renewed war.
"Those
efforts were, unfortunately, unsuccessful," HDC spokesman Steve
Daly said in Tokyo after about 17 hours of negotiations since Saturday
evening.
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GAM
peace delegates on the phone, minutes before being re-arrested
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An
estimated 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the
conflict since 1976. The latest peace pact had lasted only since
December 9.
GAM
military spokesman Sofyan Dawood told AFP that commander Muzakkir Manaf
had ordered all fighters to be on alert.
He
said the rebels would use guerrilla tactics "and the place and time
of the fighting will be chosen by GAM."
Dawood
called for a general strike from Monday in the province in what he said
was an attempt to protect civilians. He urged industries like the
U.S.-owned ExxonMobil and the Arun natural gas plant to shut down.
"We
don't want to attack vital projects but if the military or police who
guard the projects make a sweeping, we will attack military or police
there." Hundreds of Indonesian troops guard the ExxonMobil
operation.
Dawood
blamed the failure of the talks on Jakarta announcing three conditions
late Saturday - that GAM accept the "unitary state of
Indonesia," accept special autonomy for Aceh and drop demands for
independence, and start disarming.
He
said GAM still wanted dialogue. "The international community knows
that Indonesia wants war in Aceh because these conditions are
unacceptable and outside COHA (the Cessation of Hostilities
Agreement)."
The
Tokyo talks got off to an inauspicious start when police in Aceh
arrested five GAM delegates as they were about to fly to Tokyo.
The
arrests Friday sparked a strong U.S. protest. They were freed Saturday
evening as the talks began.
One
of them, Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, said earlier Sunday that any military
action would result in many civilian deaths.
"It
is an undeniable fact that some Acehnese support independence," he
said. "Maybe it will only take three months for the Jakarta
government to finish the military operation but does it have to kill
half of the population to end the conflict?"
Indonesia
says it will try to avoid civilian casualties in its joint
"security restoration" and humanitarian operation.
