Another official killed in Aceh

Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Four gunmen riding on two motorcycles shot dead on Thursday a senior government official on the Banda Aceh-Medan road in Cunda village, some 1.5 kilometers from the giant industrial town of Lhokseumawe in North Aceh, a humanitarian activist said.

Forty-seven-year-old Muchlis Ali, the regency secretary for North Aceh, was hit twice in the head and once in the leg when he was on his way to his office at around 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, said the activist, who wanted to be anonymous.

Eyewitnesses, including Muchlis' driver A. Malik, said the gunmen tried to kidnap the official but he resisted. The assailants then shot him in the knee and twice in the head.

Malik, along with several locals, rushed Muchlis to Lilawangsa Military Hospital but he died a few minutes later.

Police questioned the driver to further find out about the attackers, but Malik said he did not recognize the gunmen.

Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. M. Jahja expressed anger over the incident. "If they (the assailants) are mad at us, do not target civilians," Jahja said after paying his respects at the hospital.

Officials, however, suspect that the attackers were members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.

GAM senior commander Amri Abdul Wahab has denied responsibility for the attack. "We couldn't possibly do that. So do not blindly accuse us," he said.

Locals, however, were puzzled by the killing since it took place only about 200 meters from North Aceh Police station. About 300 meters east from the site of the incident there is also a security post and some 400 meters to the south is a military base.

Locals said it was quite impossible for the assailants to flee the scene as it was surrounded by security posts.

A similar modus operandi was also used in the assassinations of Syiah Kuala University rector Dayan Dawood on Sept. 6 this year, of former Aceh deputy governor Maj. Gen. (ret) Teuku Djohan on May 10, 2001 and of IAIN rector Ar-Raniry Safwan Idris on Sept. 16 last year.

At least 1,200 people have been killed in Aceh this year.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri led a peace mission to Aceh last month but rejected independence for the resource-rich province.