2,000 residents of Aceh lie on road in protest

2,000 residents of Aceh lie on road in protest

SIGLI, Aceh (JP): About 2,000 residents from several districts
in Pidie, on their way to Banda Aceh in dozens of buses and
trucks, lay on the road in protest on Wednesday night after being
stopped by security forces in Glumpangtiga district.

The convoy was heading along the Banda Aceh-Medan highway to
attend a gathering of students and residents at Darussalam
University on Thursday in Banda Aceh, the capital.

Residents from the districts of Bandardua, Ulim, Meureudu and
Trienggading left Pidie at about 10 p.m. in 32 buses and trucks.

However, security personnel stopped the convoy in
Glumpangtiga, and warning shots were fired when vehicles
continued to advance. Security personnel told residents to leave
their vehicles and that they could not go to Banda Aceh.

"We only plan to attend a meeting, nothing else," a resident
said.

Pidie Police chief Lt. Col. Endang E. Bagus said on Thursday
the measure was taken to prevent any harm coming to the
residents, saying traveling at night could have been dangerous.

Another resident, from Meureudu, said, "The police didn't have
to fire shots... many panicked. Such behavior, threatening
people suspected of being rebels, just shows there is no good
intention on the part of the government to bring a peaceful
settlement to problems in Aceh."

In Banda Aceh, rallies continued over demands for a referendum
for Aceh's future. In Semarang, some 250 students rallied for an
end to violence in Aceh and other riot-torn regions.

Also on Thursday, Aceh Police chief Col. Bahrumsyah confirmed
the deaths of two soldiers this week. Sgt. Edi Suhartri was
killed in Tenom, West Aceh, late on Monday, while Sgt. Ali Imran,
a member of the Jeunieb district military command, was stabbed in
his home in Bireuen district, North Aceh, on Tuesday.

"We are still looking for the assailants," he said, adding
they had no definite answer regarding the identity of armed
people targeting both civilians and security personnel, and how
they got arms. Separatists are only one of the suspected groups.

Reports said Sgt. Edi was killed on his way home. Meanwhile,
the Waspada daily, based in Medan, North Sumatra, reported six
unknown men came to Sgt. Ali's house at noon on Tuesday. A fight
broke out and his wife separated, them but one of the visitors
stabbed Ali in the side. The six men fled while Ali's body was
taken to the Lhokseumawe Army Hospital.

The daily also reported on Thursday that Aliong, 32, of Johan
Pahlawan district in West Aceh, was shot dead by an unknown
person in the Kaway XVI district late on Tuesday while he was
gambling.

From Banda Aceh, Waspada also reported that at about 10 a.m.
on Wednesday, six men wearing masks and carrying rifles held up
the cashier of the regional office of the Ministry of Education
and Culture in Blang Pidie, South Aceh. The cashier, Hamdi, had
just withdrawn Rp 240 million from a bank and was about to pay
elementary school teachers their salaries at the office.

The robbers disconnected the phone line and surrounded the
office, while teachers who had come for their salaries were
threatened that they would be shot. "We could not do anything," a
teacher said. The robbers then fled, leaving some teachers
crying.

Despite ongoing violence, Bahrumsyah told The Jakarta Post
that "85 percent" of displaced people, who last month amounted to
about 180,000 across Aceh, have found conditions safe enough to
return to their homes.

Aceh Police have published advertisements in local newspapers,
calling for an end to violence.

In Jakarta on Thursday, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid
reiterated that a referendum on Aceh's future was out of the
question, "but I don't know about (the possibility under) the
next President".

He said the government has shown respect for the aspirations
of Acehnese by delaying the reestablishment of the provincial
military command, planned for Sept. 1, and the redeployment of
Crack Riot Troops.

"But the people must also help guarantee security," he said,
adding that security personnel "would be forced to act" given
continued attacks on their members. Last month, the Indonesian
Military Commander/Minister of Defense and Security, Gen.
Wiranto, said 43 police and military personnel had been killed in
Aceh.

Syarwan attended a hearing at the House of Representatives on
a new bill to grant special autonomy for Aceh.

Scholars have said that the special status of the province,
declared in 1959, has never been made into law. Injustices under
the government, continued rights abuses and the failure to bring
perpetrators to court have led to increasing grievances here,
activists say. (51/anr/har)