TNI claims it has killed GAM deputy governor<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nLhokseumawe\/Nusa Dua<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Military (TNI) has announced that it killed a
\nhigh-ranking official of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) structure
\nas the war against the rebels enters a \"difficult phase.\"<\/p>\n
Tengku Ibrahim, known as the deputy governor of GAM overseeing
\nPase regency in North Aceh, was shot dead in an armed clash in
\nNisam district late on Wednesday, spokesman for the military
\noperation Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"Ibrahim was shot during a clash between rebels and a unit
\nfrom TNI Battalion 501 Infantry Airborne Trisula,\" Yani said. The
\ntroops discovered the body of Ibrahim on Thursday morning in the
\nneighboring village of Sidomulyo.<\/p>\n
Yani said the soldiers planned the raid on Ibrahim and his
\ngroup following information from residents.<\/p>\n
\"A tip from the residents at Alue Mbang hamlet in Nisam said
\nthat a group of GAM members just entered the hamlet for dinner,
\nand one of them was Tengku Said Adnan, who is GAM's governor for
\nPase. We planned to ambush them but failed as a small group of
\nthem attacked us before we reached the location,\" an officer with
\nthe battalion told reporters.<\/p>\n
There were nine rebels killed during separate firefights
\nacross Aceh on Wednesday, taking the death toll of separatists
\nkilled to over 500 according to military sources, as the renewed
\nhostilities enter the third month since peace talks broke down on
\nMay 18.<\/p>\n
Martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said after
\ntwo months of the offensive, it was reaching its most difficult
\nphase as the military would intensify efforts to separate
\ncivilians from the rebels.<\/p>\n
\"This is a daunting challenge as we have to split people from
\nthe separatists physically and mentally,\" Endang said in Banda
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
Apart from continuing the offensive, the military and police
\nwill have find a way to convince the Acehnese to be loyal to
\nIndonesia and reject independence.<\/p>\n
\"On one hand, the operation to restore order will go on, but
\non the other hand we need to approach the poor people so they
\nwill find that the separatist ideology is difficult to accept,\"
\nEndang said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Nusa Dua, Bali, the Swedish government said it
\nwas still examining whether the evidence submitted by Indonesia
\nwas sufficient to take legal measures against GAM leaders in
\nexile in the Scandinavian country and would probably be done by
\nearly September.<\/p>\n
Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Deputy Director General
\nfor Political Affairs Eva Walder-Brundin said on Thursday the
\nattorney general's office was currently going through the legal
\nevidence provided by Indonesia last month.<\/p>\n
Brundin had a meeting with Indonesia Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Hassan Wirayuda late on Wednesday evening, on the
\nsidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).<\/p>\n
\"The evidence is at the prosecutor general's office, that
\nprocedure is likely to be completed by the end of August or
\nbeginning of September,\" Brundin told The Jakarta Post and
\nKompas.<\/p>\n
She said the ongoing process in the prosecutor's office was an
\nindependent procedure that the government could not interfere
\nwith.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's special envoy Ali Alatas visited Sweden last month
\nto present legal evidence against GAM leaders -- Hasan Tiro,
\nZaini Abdullah and Malik Mahmood - who have been living in Sweden
\nand who have obtained citizenship.<\/p>\n
Jakarta claims they are involved in the separatist movement in
\nAceh and responsible for a series of bomb attacks in the capital
\nand several major cities in Indonesia since year 2000.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tni-claims-it-has-killed-gam-deputy-governor-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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