Gen Wiranto rejects outside help for 3 troubled islands

JAKARTA, Jan 3: Indonesia's minister for security affairs General Wiranto has rejected offers of outside help in three of the country's main trouble spots -- the Maluku islands, Aceh and Irian Jaya, reports AFP.

Wiranto, speaking during a brief New Year's trip to restive Irian Jaya with President Abdurrahman Wahid, was quoted by the Indonesian Observer on Monday as outlining a plan to "isolate" the population of the province.

"The important thing is that the people of the territory should abide by the law. After that the next thing to do is to isolate them from, among other things, media reports, as they often fan the emotions of the people -- and intervention by other parties.

"If the isolation works well, rehabilitation and reconciliation could be carried out involving mediators acceptable to the people," said Wiranto, who headed the armed forces when East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia.

"Therefore others do not need to give their support which could adversely create pros and cons, or even invite intervention from foreign sides," the Observer quoted Wiranto as saying.

Several countries including Malaysia and the Netherlands have offered assistance in helping to solve the rising bloodshed in Irian Jaya, the Maluku islands and in Aceh in the far west of the country.

The Observer quoted Wahid, speaking on the same trip, as warning other countries not to assist Indonesian separatists.

"I warn other countries against (giving) any kind of support, such as sending weaponry to promote the establishment of a country within the Unitary State of Indonesia," the president said.

Last week the national news agency Antara quoted parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung as ruling out any deployment of UN peacekeeping troops to restore peace between warring Muslims and Christians in the Malukus.

"I object to any call for the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops in Ambon (the capital of the Malukus) to avoid open war in the province. It reflects a lack of confidence in the Indonesian military and the national police."

A year of bloody conflict between Muslims and Christians in the Malukus has left 1,134 killed, over 2,300 injured, and more than 8,500 buildings, including more than 122 places of worship, either damaged or burned.

The military took control of the province from the police last week in an effort to stem fresh waves of blood-letting.

Strongly Islamic Aceh and mainly Christian Irian Jaya are home to long-running separatist movements, which gained momentum after the fall of Indonesian strongman Suharto in 1998 and last year's East Timor independence vote.