Acehnese free to hoist flags: GAM chief

Acehnese free to hoist flags: GAM chief

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): With tension high following the fatal
shooting of two students at state-run Syiah Kuala University on
Monday, a Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commander said people in the
province could fly the Indonesian flag on Independence Day on
Aug. 17 if they wished.

"I neither suggest nor forbid the Acehnese from hoisting
Indonesian flags," Tengku Abdullah Syafiie said at a GAM camp
deep in the jungle in Jiem-Jiem, Pidie regency, North Aceh, on
Sunday.

"I want to remind the Acehnese that Aug. 17 (1945) was the
beginning of the Republic of Indonesia's colonization of Aceh,"
he said on the sidelines of a military training session for women
soldiers.

"Therefore, I urge people to stay at home or in mosques from
Aug. 15 to Aug. 17 and pray ... because these (two) days are
damned days for Acehnese," he said.

People are fearing violence between security forces and GAM
rebels if the national flag is raised on Thursday.

Aceh Police chief Brig. Gen. Doddy Sumantyawan said on Friday
that all regions in Aceh were obliged to fly the national flag.

The provincial administration, however, came up with a softer
line, saying that only "offices and government institutions" were
obliged to raise flags.

The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) suggested a
"middle path", urging people to raise UN and referendum flags,
instead of the national pennant.

"We do not want more people to be sacrificed in conflict,"
SIRA's Muhammad Nazar said.

Tension was evident on Monday in North and East Aceh, as well
as the provincial capital Banda Aceh, following violence since
Sunday that left at least five people dead, including Syiah Kuala
students Nasruddin M. Jamil, 25, and Lazuardi, 24, and almost 100
others injured.

"The (two) bodies were found (on Monday) at around 7:30 a.m.
in Lampineung village in Banda Aceh. The (student's) motorbike
went missing and witnesses said they heard gunshots around 2 a.m.
Monday," Supt. Sayed Husaini of Aceh Besar Police said.

At least 54 people, including 11 military/police personnel,
have been killed in Aceh since the humanitarian pause took effect
here on June 2.

In Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh, activities came to a halt on Monday
following the murder of a soldier named Pvt. Ahmad Ridwan Siagian
and the serious wounding of Pvt. Tri Sugianto.

Police said two motorists stabbed the two soldiers and took
away their SS-1 rifles near a market on Sunday.

The attack prompted an intense military search in the area for
the assailants. More than 100 people were beaten up or suffered
gunshots wounds while soldiers set the market on fire, residents
said.

Three children, aged between eight and 12 years old, were
among those with gunshot wounds and taken to a military hospital
in the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

In North Aceh, two alleged GAM rebels, Ishak Sukon, 23 and
Marzuki Yunus, 29, were shot dead when they ambushed a convoy of
troops in Tanjong Meunjee on Sunday, local police chief Supt.
Abadan Bangko said.

Missing activist

Abdullah also condemned the disappearance of New York-based
International Forum for Aceh (IFA) activist Jafar Siddiq Hamzah.

"Jafar is not a GAM member. He's an activist who was strongly
defending the Acehnese internationally.

"If only we were not in the humanitarian pause period, I would
order my troops to blast away at all military bases in Aceh. This
is their work," Abdullah said.

IFA has also written to President Abdurrahman Wahid, calling
for a thorough investigation into the case, Antara said.

Bukit Barisan Military commander Maj. Gen. I Gde Purnawa said
in Medan on Monday that his office had no plan to take any action
in Jafar's case.

"We have no such plan. Just ask the North Sumatra Police chief
for confirmation," he said.

On the upcoming gubernatorial elections in the province,
Abdullah warned the provincial administration not "to meddle too
much in political affairs during the humanitarian pause".

"I don't think such a political agenda is worth fighting for
during this truce," he said.

Acting Aceh Governor Ramli Ridwan said recently he had lobbied
GAM to hold smooth gubernatorial elections, which are scheduled
for November.

Several names have been mentioned as prospective Aceh
governors, including Ramli Ridwan, scholar and environmental
activist Ahmad Humam Hamid, chief of Aceh's national education
ministry office H.A. Malik Raden, secretary to the human rights
ministry Iskandar Hoesin and businessman Abdullah Puteh.
(39/50/51/edt)