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.