Blast disrupts ministerial visit in Aceh<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nBanda Aceh<\/p>\n
A major bomb blast disrupted the visit of Coordinating
\nMinister for Peoples' Welfare Yusuf Kalla and Minister of
\nReligious Affairs Said Agiel Munawar to Lhokseumawe, North Aceh,
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
The bomb exploded in an abandoned theater at 10:05 a.m. local
\ntime, only minutes before the two ministers arrived at an
\nadjacent sports stadium where a ceremony to officiate the
\ndevelopment of an Islamic center was to take place.<\/p>\n
No casualties were reported in the incident. The ceremony went
\nahead as scheduled despite the blast.<\/p>\n
Brig. Zamroni, commander of the military operation to restore
\nsecurity to Aceh, accused the Free Aceh Separatist Movement (GAM)
\nof masterminding the incident in an attempt to upset the
\nministers' visit to the city.<\/p>\n
Locals said they were unaffected by the incident and carried
\non with their daily activities amid the tight security in the
\ncity.<\/p>\n
Lhokseumawe, some 270 kilometers southeast of the provincial
\ncapital of Banda Aceh, is one of GAM's critical strongholds in
\nthe strife-torn province. The city is an industrial zone where
\nforeign mining company PT ExxonMobil Indonesia and two fertilizer
\ncompanies, PT ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer and PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda,
\noperate.<\/p>\n
North Aceh Regent Tarmizi A. Karim said the local government
\nhad allocated Rp 19 billion in the first phase of the development
\nproject.<\/p>\n
Said and Iraqi Ambassador Sa'daan Al-Juhaidy, who joined the
\nministers' entourage, spent the night in the city to allow them a
\nchance to witness the development project in the regency.<\/p>\n
Separately, in Pidie, 120 kilometers southeast of the city,
\ntwo rebels were killed in an exchange of gunfire with security
\npersonnel in Kambuek Village, Mutiara Subdistrict in the regency
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Lt. Co. Supartodi, chief of the Pidie Military Subdistrict,
\nsaid security personnel shot the rebels, 28-year-old Razali M.
\nJamil and 38-year-old Rusli Achmad, when they refused to
\nsurrender.<\/p>\n
\"We seized a revolver and 14 rounds of ammunition from the
\nvictims,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In West Aceh, a body with several gunshot wounds was found in
\nSuak Raya Village, near the regency capital of Meulaboh, on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
\"The body has been sent to Cut Nyak Dhien General Hospital in
\nMeulaboh for an autopsy,\" said Rasmuddin, a representative of the
\nIndonesian Red Cross in the regency.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the provincial legislature called on the central
\ngovernment to review Presidential Instruction No. 4\/2001, which
\nit said has claimed at least 1,000 lives over the last ten
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
\"The presidential decree must be reviewed as it has been found
\nto be ineffective in restoring security and order to solve the
\nconflict,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the central government should exercise good
\njudgment when it makes a decision on whether to extend the
\nmilitary operation or seek an alternative way to find a
\ncomprehensive solution to the prolonged bloody conflict.<\/p>",
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