The detention of four senior Aceh rebel representatives by Indonesia shows Jakarta lacks good faith in seeking talks to save a crumbling peace pact, a rebel spokesman said today.
"The detention of four representatives on the JSC is the biggest violation by Indonesia and was conducted without reason," Free Aceh Movement (GAM) military spokesman Mr Sofyan Daud told reporters.
The Joint Security Committee (JSC), with representatives from GAM, the government and foreign peace brokers, is part of the structure set up to enforce a peace pact reached in December that is in imminent danger of collapse.
"This shows the Indonesian government has no good faith at all toward resuming the dialogue," Mr Daud said by telephone.
In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the representatives would be released if their intentions were to help the peace process.
"We still respect them as the negotiators for GAM. If their activities outside Aceh were related to finding a peaceful solution for Aceh, then fine," he told reporters, two days before a government-set deadline for the separatists to agree on peace talks or face a military offensive.
Police detained the four GAM leaders at the Banda Aceh airport yesterday as they tried to leave the provincial capital, 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.