Aceh police question two foreign women

Aceh police question two foreign women

Agence France-Presse, Banda Aceh

Two foreign women allegedly found with photos and documents linked to separatist rebels are being questioned by police in Indonesia's Aceh province, police said Thursday.

Police spokesman Taufiq identified them as Lesley Jane, 42, born in Scotland and an instructor at a university in Tasmania, Australia, and Joy Lee, also 42, a retired American health worker born in Iowa.

Their translator, an Aceh university student, was also detained, police said.

Taufiq said they were detained by Indonesian soldiers at a checkpoint in South Aceh district Wednesday afternoon before being handed over to police.

"From the initial investigation, security personnel found a number of documents related to the activities of GAM," Taufiq said, referring to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels who have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1976.

Among the items were photos and written GAM documents, he said.

Investigation showed they had spent four days at the South Aceh GAM headquarters in Manggamat, he said.

The women were not arrested and did not spend Wednesday night in a police station. But they were required to report to police Thursday for continued questioning, Taufiq said.

If they are found not to have violated the law they will be allowed to continue their activities, he said.

An estimated 10,000 people have died since GAM began its fight for an independent homeland in 1976 in the energy-rich province on Sumatra island, with rights activists putting the toll for this year alone at around 1,000.