Aceh violence continues amid Geneva peace effort
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Separate attacks on government and police facilities continued in the province on the weekend, which security officials claim was the work of separatist rebels.
At least four attacks were recorded since Saturday.
Meanwhile, Aceh Besar Police chief Supt. Sayed Hoesainy said on Sunday a bomb and arson attack destroyed the official residence of Aceh Besar Regent Sayuti on Saturday night. However, no casualties were reported, with Sayuti himself out of town at the time.
According to Sayed, a group of armed men forced four security guards to vacate the premises before dousing the house with gasoline and setting it ablaze. Shortly afterward, they detonated a homemade bomb.
Spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh Besar Ayah Muni immediately denied the allegations. He said that a "third party" had done it to taint GAM's reputation.
A few hours earlier, also in the regency, alleged rebels also burned down the house of a local officer, Sr. Supt. Rusli Saleh, in Iboh Tanjung village.
Other attacks were reported in North Aceh with local police chief Supt. Abadan Bangko saying rebels attacked the military district command on Jl. Banda Aceh-Medan and the nearby police traffic post in Panton Labu area, Tanah Jambo Aye district, on Saturday evening using grenade launchers and riffles. No casualties were reported.
No significant damage on the military district command was reported either.
Earlier, on Saturday morning, a convoy carrying soldiers in the Cot Girek area in Lhok Sukon district, some 55 kilometers from Lhokseumawe, was ambushed.
At least one alleged GAM member, Ismail bin Daud, was killed in the exchange of fire.
However, a GAM representative in Aceh Besar, Abu Tazurra, maintained that the movement was only responsible for the attack on the military and police buildings which was conducted because police had been engaged in a series of oppressive military attacks by raiding GAM headquarters, thus violating the Humanitarian Pause.
Abu also accused another third party, which he said had been taking advantage of the fragile security condition in the area.
Separately, local community leader Moh. Yusuf said on Sunday that four farmers were shot to death in Madat village, Simpang Ulim district in East Aceh regency.
Yusuf claimed the shooting came from patrolling security officers who were combing the village after the officers earlier heard gunshots.
"Four of the six were shot dead while the other two were taken to their office in Simpang Ulim district," he said.
There was no immediate response from police about the incident.
Diplomacy
While the situation on the ground remained volatile, negotiators representing the Indonesian government and GAM engaged in talks in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a possible extension to the Humanitarian Pause.
"The mood is conducive but results have yet to be seen," Abdullah Bakhtiar, a GAM liaison officer, was quoted by AFP as saying in Geneva.
Bakhtiar said delegations from Jakarta and GAM were negotiating this weekend in Geneva for a three-month extension to the truce signed in May, which came into effect on June 2.
The talks are being held behind closed doors at an undisclosed location, under the aegis of the Geneva-based Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
A joint-statement was expected at the end of the two-day talks, which were limited to the discussion of humanitarian questions, Bakhtiar added. (50/lup)