Powerful bomb kills two ahead of Aceh peace talks<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
A powerful blast killed at least two men and injured seven other
\npeople, including three women and two children, in Aceh province
\nahead of a fresh round of peace talks this week in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
And in another development, members of the rebel Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) released at least seven students they had been
\nholding for months on accusations that they were spies for the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin, a TNI spokesman in the town of
\nLhokseumawe, North Aceh, said the homemade bomb exploded in the
\nvillage of Pusong in North Aceh on Monday at 8:15 p.m.<\/p>\n
The two dead men were identified as Amir, 18, and Nasruddin,
\n23, both alleged GAM members. The explosion also damaged two
\nhouses.<\/p>\n
\"The two were killed and their bodies torn to pieces (in the
\nblast),\" Mutaqin said.<\/p>\n
He said it was believed that the bomb belonged to the two
\nvictims, who were carrying the explosive to Lhokseumawe for an
\nattack in the city center of about 3,000 people.<\/p>\n
In unrelated cases, Mutaqin said the military had discovered
\nthe bodies of two apparent shooting victims in East Aceh and
\nCentral Aceh on Monday. Mutaqin blamed GAM for the deaths.<\/p>\n
Also on Monday, GAM released seven students who had been held
\nfor months on allegations that they had spied on the rebel group
\nfor TNI.<\/p>\n
The release of the seven students was mediated by the Human
\nRights Assistance Post (PB-HAM), a non-governmental organization
\nbased in East Aceh.<\/p>\n
Nursyamsiyah, a PB-HAM activist, told The Jakarta Post on
\nMonday night that she was with the group that picked up the
\nreleased students from a village near the mountainous area of
\nPeureulak.<\/p>\n
The students are currently staying at the PB-HAM office in
\nEast Aceh, she added.<\/p>\n
However, GAM is still holding two people -- Eti Nora and
\nMarzuki.<\/p>\n
\"GAM told us that they were not yet able to free the two
\nhostages because the safety of the hostages was threatened by
\nTNI,\" Nursyamsiyah said.<\/p>\n
The nine hostages, eight of them women, were abducted by GAM
\nin separate incidents over the last several months. The rebels
\naccused the nine of working as \"informants\" for the TNI.<\/p>\n
Mariana, one of the released hostages who is a 21-year-old
\nstudent at Aceh's Samudra Langsa University, said she was glad to
\nbe freed.<\/p>\n
\"I am not an informant for the TNI. But I have talked with
\nthem several times,\" said Mariana, who was taken by GAM members
\non March 21.<\/p>\n
She said her captors treated her and the other hostages with
\nkindness and respects.<\/p>\n
The latest killings and the release of the hostages come days
\nahead of peace talks between government officials and GAM
\nrepresentatives scheduled for April 27 and April 28 in Geneva,
\nSwitzerland.<\/p>\n
A GAM negotiator, Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, told AFP that GAM's
\nSwedish-based founder Hasan Tiro would decide soon whether the
\ntalks would go ahead.<\/p>\n
He said five GAM negotiators in Aceh were due to travel to
\nSwitzerland for the negotiations, which are being facilitated by
\nthe Geneva-based Henry Dunant Center.<\/p>\n
The latest round of talks is aimed at restoring security,
\nbased on an agreement reached by both sides in their last talks
\nin early February, Tiba said.<\/p>\n
Topping the agenda will be the resumption of discussions on
\n\"mechanisms for recovering security, because this is an extremely
\npressing problem as violence continues in Aceh\", Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
\"The issue of special autonomy will be broached once
\ndiscussions on security are complete,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh claimed on Tuesday
\nthat the majority of his administration was working properly amid
\nthe improving security in the province.<\/p>\n
He said the local government continued to seek breakthrough
\nefforts to improve the welfare of people in the resource-rich
\nregion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/powerful-bomb-kills-two-ahead-of-aceh-peace-talks-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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