12 rebels killed in Aceh, 'RCTI' minivan found<\/p>\n
Aan Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumauwe, Aceh<\/p>\n
At the start of the seventh week of the military offensive
\nagainst the separatists in Aceh, troops killed 12 more rebels in
\na crackdown on the Free Aceh Movement's strongholds in the
\nresource-rich province on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the military gave an ultimatum to the RCTI
\ntelevision crew members, who along with three Acehnese are being
\nheld hostage, to come out into the area where their car was found
\non Saturday, otherwise they would be in \"a difficult situation\".<\/p>\n
Military operation spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Yani Basuki said
\nthat eight rebels were killed in their hideout in the northern
\nAceh village of Blang Mayang and four others were killed in two
\nseparate gunfights in Pidie and East Aceh regencies.<\/p>\n
The first eight bodies were recovered by Indonesian Red Cross
\nvolunteers from Kandang village early on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
Nearly 350 rebels have been killed and 600 taken prisoner
\nsince the military launched an offensive on May 19 to quash the
\nseparatist movement. Dozens of military and police personnel have
\nbeen already killed during the first six weeks of the offensive.<\/p>\n
The offensive has also displaced more than 40,000 Acehnese who
\nare taking refuge both within and outside the province. The
\nrefugees face health problems and food shortages, among other
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
GAM has been fighting for more than 26 years for independence
\nin the oil-and gas-rich province in response to what they called
\ninjustice and human rights abuses over the last three decades.<\/p>\n
More than 12,000 people have been killed during the conflict.<\/p>\n
The TNI has also claimed that the province, including areas
\nwhich were formerly GAM strongholds, is under military control.<\/p>\n
The insurgents say many of the dead were civilians, not
\ncombatants. Rights groups, too, have argued that the military
\ncampaign has failed due to the high number of casualties among
\ncivilians.<\/p>\n
In another development, the military has recovered the Kijang
\nminivan belonging to private television station RCTI at the palm
\noil plantation in Peureulak area in East Aceh and appealed to the
\ncrew members to come out into the area for their own safety.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that RCTI journalist Erza and cameraman Fery
\nSantoro know the location (of the car) so, for their own safety,
\nwe ask them to raise a white flag,\" Yani said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The RCTI crew has been held hostage by the rebels since June
\n29 and according to GAM, their release will depend on the
\ndevelopment of the military operation.<\/p>\n
Two of the three Acehnese people accompanying them are wives
\nof Air Force officers.<\/p>\n
\"If Erza fails to show up by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, no one can
\nblame the military for not protecting civilians, including them,\"
\nYani said.<\/p>\n
The car was found by soldiers at the plantation some eight
\nkilometers from the main road in Peureulak. It was locked and had
\na minor dent on the front.<\/p>\n
A GAM spokesman said on Thursday that the rebels were holding
\nfive people, including the two journalists, their driver and the
\nwives of two soldiers traveling with them as guides. They have
\nbeen missing since Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said the five were \"healthy and unharmed\".<\/p>\n
An Aceh-based cameraman from TVRI state television network,
\nMuhammad Jamaluddin, was found dead last month after being
\nkidnapped by unidentified people.<\/p>\n
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Saturday
\ncalled for international action to secure the release of the
\njournalists being held hostage.<\/p>\n
It also issued a general safety alert over an \"outrageous
\ncatalog of violations of journalists' rights\" in the region.<\/p>\n
On June 26 military authorities issued an order restricting
\nthe movements of foreign journalists and local Indonesian
\nreporters working for foreign media.<\/p>",
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