Aceh remains tense, 50 shops set on fire

Aceh remains tense, 50 shops set on fire

JAKARTA (JP): At least 50 shop-houses belonging to residents
of Teunom subdistrict in West Aceh regency were razed in the
early hours of Tuesday, leaving 325 people homeless.

No fatalities have so far been reported and material losses
have yet to be estimated.

Police said they were still investigating the cause of the
fire, which was first spotted at 2:30 a.m., Antara reported

"I'm still waiting for the final report of the incident, along
with the estimated amount of material losses caused by the fire
from head of the local (Teunom) police subprecinct," West Aceh
Police precinct chief Lt. Col. Jhon Bahriel said.

Teunom is located near the main road that connects the
provincial capital of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, capital of the
West Aceh regency. It is about 190 kilometers from Banda Aceh.

The 55 families who had lost their houses and shops took
refuge with relatives and neighbors.

The provincial office of social affairs is said to have
donated two tons of rice to the fire victims.

Tensions in West Aceh, as well as the four other troubled
regencies of North Aceh, East Aceh, Central Aceh and Pidie, have
been escalating in the past few weeks. A series of armed clashes
between the military and alleged Free Aceh separatist guerrillas,
have led to military raids and violence in the area.

Aceh has 11 regencies.

Many locals, including those in the capital of Banda Aceh,
have recently called on people to refrain from voting in the June
7 general election. They urged the action, unless Jakarta
guaranteed a referendum in which Acehnese would be allowed to
choose between independence or wider autonomy.

New horrific incidents were reported from the four regencies
in the past few days.

Head of the Blang Rakal village in Timang Gajah subdistrict in
Central Aceh, Muhammad Ali, was shot to death at 7 a.m. on his
way to buy a pack of cigarettes at a nearby stall.

Central Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Misik Natari said Ali, 50,
was widely known by local villagers as a cuak, the local word for
a civilian assisting military operations. He said Ali was shot by
two armed men riding a motorcycle.

In the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, residents of at
least 20 locations here said on Tuesday they heard continuous gun
fire in their respective neighborhoods from Monday midnight until
the early hours of Tuesday.

Many of them believed the gunshots were fired by members of a
Free Aceh separatist group.

"It looks like the guerrillas were showing off," a local
correspondent said.

He said the shootings probably came from the same rebel group,
which comprised an estimated 20 members.

"They just fired their guns into the air and then hastily
moved on to another place," he said.

The group was seen, at among other spots, Cunda traffic
circle, near the KNPI building, Banda Sakti Police subprecinct
and a banking office complex on Jl. Merdeka.

The KNPI building is temporarily used to house hundreds of
refugees from nearby areas.

"Following the shootings most of the people of Lhokseumawe
remained in their homes. Most of the shops were closed today,"
the source said.

The local North Aceh authorities are still considering
imposing a curfew in the area.

"I will hold a meeting with all related institutions to
discuss the possibility," North Aceh Regent Tarmizi A. Karim said
on Tuesday.

The curfew would be imposed from 10:30 p.m. through 5:00 a.m.

Aceh Military Commander Col. Jhonny Wahab said he would
support the authority's decision to impose the curfew on the
district.

The military has persistently blamed the Free Aceh separatist
rebels for creating an unfavorable atmosphere in the regencies.

Tens of thousands of people from the area have fled their
hometowns to other places, including Banda Aceh.

In Jakarta, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian
Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto reiterated that TNI and
police members would take tough measures against members of the
rebel group led by Hasan Tiro. He said the group had attacked law
enforcers, damaged state and public facilities and attempted to
disrupt next Monday's polls in the province.

Wiranto was insistent that no single area of Indonesia had the
right to release itself from the republic, as the nation was
committed to remaining united.

Meanwhile, combat troops from the North Sumatra capital of
Medan arrived in Lhokseumawe on Tuesday evening to help restore
order and security in the troubled regencies on the eve of the
elections.

Maj. Gen. Affan Gaffar, chief of the Bukit Barisan Military
Command overseeing security in Aceh and North Sumatra, told The
Jakarta Post the military would continue to send more soldiers to
Aceh until calm returned to the troubled province.

"We will continue to crush the separatist movement in the
province. We have lost many personnel over the last three
months," he said by telephone from Padang, West Sumatra on
Tuesday.

Last week, at least 15 security personnel, transmigrants and
health workers were killed by rebels in two separate ambushes in
West Aceh and Pidie regencies. (bsr/rms/46/47)