Ten more killed in troubled Aceh<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Troops shot dead at least nine suspected rebels
\nin Aceh on Thursday during the second day of a mass strike
\nprotesting military violence in the troubled province, a local
\nmilitary commander and witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Pidie Military Commander Lt. Col. Iskandar told The Jakarta
\nPost by phone from Sigli that the nine were killed in a gunfight
\nduring a military operation in Cot Mamplam village, Kumala
\ndistrict, some 27 kilometers south of the town.<\/p>\n
\"About 50 security personnel launched the operation at 7:17
\na.m. and it lasted about 45 minutes.\" He said that three
\nsuspected rebels managed to escape.<\/p>\n
No security personnel were injured in the operation, he added.<\/p>\n
Iskandar said troops were dispatched to Cot Mamplam on
\nWednesday following reports that rebels were hiding in the
\nvillage.<\/p>\n
Iskandar also said that a nearby district office was set on
\nfire by the rebels early Thursday.<\/p>\n
Troops confiscated three Russian made AK-47 automatic rifles
\nand 197 bullets in the raid, he said.<\/p>\n
The nine bodies were taken to Sigli General Hospital but only
\nfour were identified. According to identity cards on the bodies
\nthey were Abdullah Abidin, 29, M. Said Ramli, 31, Sulaiman
\nNurdin, 24, and Marzuki Sulaiman, 34.<\/p>\n
In Trienggading, Pidie, a 75-year-old woman was shot dead at
\nabout 3 p.m., Iskandar said.<\/p>\n
He said the shooting occurred when the victim, Aisyah, was
\npart of a group of villagers which was about to leave for a
\nnearby refugee camp.<\/p>\n
Iskandar said the woman was shot by rebels who opened fire on
\na passing military truck transporting logistics, but locals
\nmaintained there were only soldiers in the vicinity.<\/p>\n
The violence erupted as streets in the province's major towns
\nremained deserted, shops and other businesses were closed and
\npublic transportation services halted in response to students and
\nactivists' call for a two-day mass strike.<\/p>\n
\"It is just like yesterday. Only the media and security
\npersonnel have been seen on the streets since this morning,\"
\nUsman Yusuf, an operator at the state-owned telecommunications
\ncompany told the Post by phone from Sigli, about 125 kilometers
\neast of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
An activist from the Students' Solidarity for the People,
\nTarmizi, said military vehicles were stationed at bus terminals
\nin Banda Aceh to assist residents in the city of 370,000.<\/p>\n
He said the main intercity bus terminal linking the city to
\nthe North Sumatra capital of Medan also was deserted, but that a
\nfew businesses owned by Chinese-Indonesians had reopened.<\/p>\n
Students and human rights activists called the general strike
\nto demand an end to violence in Aceh and the withdrawal of troops
\nfrom the province.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that only Ketapang market on the outskirts of
\nBanda Aceh opened, but there were only a few vegetable and fish
\nvendors setting up stalls.<\/p>\n
At Ulee Lheur Port, at least 200 fishing vessels remained at
\nanchor after their owners decided to respect the strike. But a
\nfishermen said they could not set sail because there was no ice
\nto keep the catch fresh following the closure of ice factories.<\/p>\n
Several coastal cities also are suffering a shortage of fish
\ndue to the action, Antara said.<\/p>\n
In the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, witnesses reported
\nthe streets were desolate despite the urging of security
\npersonnel for residents to resume their activities.<\/p>\n
\"Only a few patients came to the hospital today, but doctors
\nand nurses are all standing by in case of trouble,\" Faisal, a
\ndoctor at Lhokseumawe General Hospital, told the Post.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, a small group of Acehnese continued their protest
\ninside the Dutch Embassy compound, demanding that the country's
\nformer colonial ruler support the province's independence bid.<\/p>\n
Clashes between the military and rebels have escalated in
\nrecent months, with the death of 211 people, including 44
\nsecurity personnel. Nearly 100,000 people have fled their homes
\nto seek shelter in mosques and government buildings since May.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday the National Commission on Human Rights met
\nwith the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).<\/p>\n
Commission Chairman Marzuki Darusman said after meeting with a
\nUNHCR regional representative, Rene van Rooyen, that \"there is a
\ncase for considering the expanded role of the UNHCR in Aceh.\"<\/p>\n
\"We would want to see the greater engagement of available and
\nspecialized agencies to spur forward the solution of the problem
\nthere, and then at one point gradually withdraw and hand it over
\nto the Indonesian authorities again,\" Marzuki told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said the UNHCR had assisted internally displaced people in
\nEast Timor for \"some weeks\". (byg\/51)<\/p>",
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