Rampage marks troops withdrawal from Aceh<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of people ran amok on Monday in
\nLhokseumauwe, about 250 kilometers east of the provincial capital
\nBanda Aceh, following the pullout of the second batch of combat
\ntroops from Aceh province.<\/p>\n
The agitated crowd threw stones at a number of stores located
\nin several streets and looted shops that sold basic commodities a
\ncouple of hours after the soldiers had left.<\/p>\n
People had gathered along the main roads of this small town of
\nabout 600,000 residents to watch a convoy of 659 troops being
\nwithdrawn from the Aceh Military District headquarters.<\/p>\n
As the military trucks passed by, people yelled insults and
\npelted them with various objects. The angry residents then vented
\nout their frustration on shops along the roads.<\/p>\n
Antara quoted witnesses as saying that the action targeted
\nproperties owned by people of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
\"The rioters pelted stones at shops on several streets and
\nthen they looted basic commodities shops,\" one witness said.<\/p>\n
Aceh Military District Chief Col. Dasiri Musnar and
\nLhokseumauwe police subprecinct chief Lt. Col. Iskandar, who were
\non the scene, made an attempt to calm people but failed.<\/p>\n
All shops, offices and schools closed following the incident.<\/p>\n
A Golkar chapter office adjacent to the bus terminal in town,
\na hotel and several beauty salons were burned by the mob.<\/p>\n
Neither Dasiri nor Iskandar could be reached for comment last
\nnight.<\/p>\n
The situation calmed after troops were deployed onto the
\nstreets from the military district headquarters.<\/p>\n
Withdrawal<\/p>\n
Most of the 659 combat troops pulled out on Monday returned to
\ntheir home barracks in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau. Also
\nincluded among them were 28 soldiers from the Army's Special
\nForce (Kopassus) who began a trip to Jakarta by ship from the
\nNorth Sumatra seaport of Belawan.<\/p>\n
The soldiers were seen off by Brig. Gen. Hindartono, chief of
\nstaff of the Bukit Barisan Military Command which supervises
\nAceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau, in a military
\nceremony.<\/p>\n
The soldiers were the last batch of 900 who were deployed
\nover the past decade as part of the Jaring Merah (Red Net)
\nOperation in the province to crush separatist guerrillas.<\/p>\n
The first batch left the province on Aug. 20, 1998.<\/p>\n
ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto decided to pull out the combat
\ntroops and lift the province's status as a military operations
\narea, following mounting criticism over human rights violations
\nby the troops in the province.<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights, which conducted an
\ninvestigation in Aceh recently, announced that it believed at
\nleast 781 alleged victims of the atrocities were buried in mass
\ngraves in several locations in the province.<\/p>\n
Hindartono said the Armed Forces would, for the time being,
\nmaintain 186 marines to combat the rampant smuggling of basic
\ncommodities from the province's eastern coastal areas.<\/p>\n
Col. Dasiti Musnar, chief of Aceh Military District, said that
\ndespite the pullout he was optimistic the Acehnese could maintain
\nsecurity in the future.<\/p>\n
East Timor<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, chief of the Udayana Military Command
\noverseeing Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara and East Timor,
\nclaimed that all combat troops would eventually be withdrawn from
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
\"We have long been planning to withdraw our troops (from East
\nTimor) and this is not due to foreign pressure,\" Damiri said in
\nBali on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said the military would only retain health detachments and
\na territorial task force once it had withdrawn all its combat
\ntroops.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 troops have recently been withdrawn from East
\nTimor but four battalions consisting of about 4,000 troops
\nremain.<\/p>\n
\"Their task however is only to assist the East Timorese in
\nnoncombat areas,\" Damiri said. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rampage-marks-troops-withdrawal-from-aceh-1447893297",
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