Aceh rebel commander shot dead in shootout<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Aceh Police claimed on Thursday to have shot dead a
\nterritorial commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) at the
\nremote Teupi Asan village in Aceh Jaya regency, some 145
\nkilometers southeast of here.<\/p>\n
A police spokesman, Comr. Taufiq Sutiyono, said Abu Arafah,
\nalias Ibrahim, 33, who was the GAM commander for Meureuhom Daya,
\none of several \"GAM provinces\", was killed during an armed clash
\nthat followed a raid on the house of one of his wives in the
\nSetiabakti subdistrict of West Aceh district.<\/p>\n
Taufiq said the death of Arafah was confirmed by his wife,
\nApriani, 23, who is being detained at the West Aceh Police
\nheadquarters for questioning.<\/p>\n
\"We are certain that it was Abu Harafah who we killed,
\nfollowing his wife's confirmation,\" Taufiq said.<\/p>\n
He said Arafah was the fourth GAM leader in West Aceh to have
\nbeen killed by security authorities over the past two months,
\nafter Alexander, Raja Umar and Abu Khaidir.<\/p>\n
Acting on information from local residents, about 200
\nparamilitary officers backed up by 14 police troops walked for
\nabout 90 minutes from the nearest road to reach Teupin Asan late
\nWednesday evening, according to Taufiq.<\/p>\n
After encircling the house early on Thursday morning, police
\ncalled on Arafah to surrender but he tried to run through the
\nback of the house and was shot in the thigh.<\/p>\n
Taufiq said Arafah died of \"heavy bleeding\" en route to the
\ndistrict town of Meulaboh.<\/p>\n
Police seized from Arafah an FN pistol and ammunition, plus a
\nsatellite phone.<\/p>\n
GAM field commander Abdul Amri bin Abdul Wahab confirmed
\nArafah's death but doubted the police account.<\/p>\n
\"How can a wound to the thigh cause so much blood loss?... It
\nmeans he must have undergone severe and fatal torture so that he
\ndied,\" Amri said.<\/p>\n
The death of a territorial commander was not a great blow for
\nGAM as a whole and would not lower the rebels' fighting spirit,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"Even today, we already have candidates to replace him,\" Amri
\nsaid without elaborating.<\/p>\n
GAM has been fighting since 1976 for an independent homeland
\nin Aceh.<\/p>\n
Armed clashes between rebels and security troops have been
\ncontinuing despite the fact that both the government and GAM are
\ngearing up for the next round of peace talks in Geneva.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Aceh provincial prosecutors' office has ruled
\nout pursuing espionage charges against a Scottish woman detained
\nfor the past month.<\/p>\n
\"According to the chief, if we focus on spying it will be
\ndifficult to prove in court later,\" prosecutor Zainal Said told
\nAFP.<\/p>\n
Last Saturday Zainal said there were indications of espionage
\nin the activities of Lesley McCulloch, who has been detained
\nalong with her American traveling companion, volunteer nurse Joy
\nErnestine-Sadler, since Sept. 11.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 3 Zainal assigned a team of three prosecutors to
\nexamine the case file which police had prepared against the
\nwomen. After their review and consultation with Aceh's top
\nprosecutor they decided to only focus their case on the women's
\nalleged visa misuse, Zainal said.<\/p>\n
The prosecution team decided the case file was not complete
\nand within two days will send it back to police for further
\ninvestigation, Zainal said.<\/p>\n
Ernestine-Sadler's case had always been based on alleged visa
\nmisuse, Zainal said, but the case file against McCulloch was
\nfilled with alleged notes she made showing \"state secrets\",
\nspecifically the strength and movement of Indonesian security
\nforces.<\/p>\n
It also contained copies of newspaper articles by McCulloch,
\nphotographs of victims of violence, and photographs of McCulloch
\nwith guerrilla leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.<\/p>\n
The evidence came from McCulloch's own laptop computer, Zainal
\nsaid on Saturday.<\/p>\n
McCulloch was until recently a university lecturer in
\nTasmania, Australia, and is a frequent contributor on the Aceh
\ndispute to Asian newspapers.<\/p>",
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