Abducted ExxonMobil workers released in Aceh

Abducted ExxonMobil workers released in Aceh

Debbie A. Lubis and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh

Three ExxonMobil workers kidnapped by separatist Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) rebels were released on Saturday afternoon without
any conditions imposed on their release.

In other violence in the war-torn province, GAM gunmen shot
and wounded a Golkar Party politician and killed a soldier in two
separate incidents on Friday.

The three abductees -- permanent ExxonMobil employee
Syarifudin Marasat Lubis and contract workers Samsul Bahri and
Iskandar -- were heading home after they were released in North
Aceh.

"I have no idea why they abducted us but one thing is for
sure, they wanted us to give moral and material support to their
struggle. The chief of Passe II region Tengku Ni also said that
he wanted us to show the public that GAM does not kill
civilians," Samsul told The Jakarta Post by telephone.

He said that he and his colleagues experienced and witnessed
GAM's hospitality and stayed with other "arrested" hostages in a
hut.

"They give us pillows, blankets, and mosquito repellent before
sleeping while the gunmen slept on the floor," Samsul said,
adding that the gunmen also provided them with food and soap.

"We broke our fast and prayed together with them," he said.

The three workers were abducted in the Tepuin Punti area as
they headed to Lhokseumawe on Thursday. Samsul said that six
motorists on three motorcycles forced Iskandar, who drove the
car, to stop on the verge of the road.

Meanwhile, a Golkar Party politician was wounded by GAM on
Friday evening after he refused to pay a Rp 5 million fee for a
government project he was involved in.

Mahyiddin, 57, was shot in front of his house in Ujong Dua
Belas village, Ingin Jaya, Aceh Besar regency after an argument
with six gunmen.

"They beat me when I refuse to give them money. They shot me
when I got a sword from my house," he said from Zainol Abidin
General Hospital in Banda Aceh.

Also on Friday, First Brig. Kusnadi, a policeman from North
Aceh Police Traffic Unit, was shot and killed by two gunmen when
he was about to enter his house in Hagu village, Lhokseumawe.

"There are two bullets in his back and waist. We are still
searching for the perpetrators," the police chief said.