Top negotiator with GAM appeals for restraint<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Senior diplomat Hassan Wirajuda, who is
\nthe government's chief negotiator with the Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM), called on all conflicting parties on Monday to exercise
\nrestrain to help restore peace in the province.<\/p>\n
"Without awareness from all related parties, it is hard to
\nestablish a conducive security situation in Aceh," Hassan told
\nreporters at Hotel Kuala Tripa before flying for Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Hassan, Indonesia's permanent representative to the United
\nNations in Geneva, signed the joint understanding for
\nhumanitarian pause with GAM in Geneva on May 12. The agreement,
\nwhich is effectively a call for a ceasefire, comes into effect on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
More than 32 people have died in violent clashes since the
\nGeneva signing. Most of the killings however have been blamed on
\nunidentified armed gangs and not GAM.<\/p>\n
Hassan said all Acehnese should work together to restore
\npeace.<\/p>\n
"We realize that there are certain parties trying to take
\nadvantage of the situation. So let's end the conflicts," he said.<\/p>\n
Hassan's entourage included Usman Hasan, former Indonesian
\nambassador to Mexico and Amran Zamzami, chairman of the
\nindependent inquiry team on human rights abuse in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Amran Zamzami said a joint military and civilian tribunal will
\nbe staged soon for perpetrators in the case of Rumoh Gedong, a
\ntorture camp in Pidie regency allegedly run by the military until
\n1998.<\/p>\n
In the latest violent clashes, four men, including a senior
\nmilitary officer, were killed in separate incidents in North and
\nEast Aceh on Sunday, officials said.<\/p>\n
The body of Lt. Col. Sulaiman Achmad of the North Aceh
\nmilitary district command was found with bruises on his torso and
\nhis neck was strapped with a nylon rope on the side of the road
\nat Lancang Barat village in Dewantara district.<\/p>\n
North Aceh police spokesman Capt. Ahmad Mustafa Kamal said
\nSulaiman was abducted a day earlier by a group of gunmen when he
\nwas walking on the main road of Ulee Nyeu village in Nisam
\ndistrict, near the pulp factory Kertas Kraft Aceh in North Aceh.<\/p>\n
In Lhokseumawe, a civilian named Mansur, with the alias Cut
\nAja, 32, who went missing after a police raid here last week was
\nfound dead with his hand chopped off in Padang Sakti village near
\nExxon-oil refinery at Muara Dua district on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The military also shot dead a gunman named Tarmizi Bin Ismail
\nin Seunebouk Kuyun in Idie Rayeuk in East Aceh on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The fourth casualty was an unidentified civilian from North
\nAceh. (50\/edt)<\/p>",
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