Another rebel shot

LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh: Troops shot dead a member of Aceh's secessionist movement Wednesday after he reportedly resisted arrest near his house in Matang Sijuek Teungoh village in northern Aceh.

Abu Salam, 35, was suspected of committing a number of crimes in the province, Lt. Col. Sutisna of the local military command was quoted by Antara as saying here Wednesday.

Salam was armed with an FN gun and two rounds of bullets, Sutisna added.

Salam is the second member of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) to have been gunned down by the military this week. Fellow member Rahman Paloh was earlier killed by troops raiding his house in another village in northern Aceh.

The two were suspects in a bank robbery in Lhokseumawe last February where two bank officials were killed.

The Aceh Merdeka has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the predominantly Moslem province since the late 1970s, Antara said. (swe)