Armed rebels kidnap and shoot councillor

Armed rebels kidnap and shoot councillor

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Two armed separatist rebels abducted a
North Aceh councillor on Sunday evening and left him in critical
condition with seven gunshot wounds in Tanah Luas district,
Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, an officer said on Monday.

"He is in a critical condition and admitted at the military
hospital in Lhokseumawe," North Aceh Police precinct chief Supt.
Abadan Bangko said.

The officer added that the police have already identified the
two alleged assailants and are now conducting a search mission to
track them down.

Abadan said the two armed rebels abducted the Golkar Party
councillor from his residence in Meucat village, Syamtalira Aron
district and forcefully took him to Nibong village in the Tanah
Luas district.

"The victim was taken to an airport belonging to oil firm
Exxon Mobil in Nibong village where the armed rebels shot him
seven times, four to his chest, two to his head and one in his
leg, and then left him dying near the airport runway," he said.

Abadan added that local residents later found him and rushed
him to the hospital using the company vehicle.

A similar shooting incident against a local councillor
occurred on Sept. 13 when two armed rebels shot dead United
Development Party (PPP) faction chairman Teungku Ilyas Ibrahim at
his house in Meuria Arun village, Syamtalira Arun district.

There has been no significant progress in the police
investigation in the case so far.

In a related development, Aceh Police Headquarters said the
police had established P.O. Box 1000 to gather information from
people to help unveil the murder of the rector of the Ar-Raniry
State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Safwan Idris.

"We might be able to gather important clues from residents and
students to resolve the case," spokesman to Aceh Police Sr. Insp.
A.M. Kamal said as quoted by Antara on Monday.

Two armed rebels shot dead Safwan at his house in the
institute's Darussalam Campus in Banda Aceh on Sept. 16.

The police had questioned 11 people as witnesses. They claimed
to have seen the alleged assailants.

Aceh Police chief Brig. Gen. Doddy Sumantyawan said the police
would soon distribute sketches of the two alleged assailants to
the public to help the police find them.

Meanwhile, Pidie Police precinct chief Supt. Heru Budi Ersanto
said on Monday the killing of a Javanese resident from Kupula
village, Padangtiji subdistrict on Saturday was designed to
trigger inter-ethnic clashes.

Heru said the slaying was carried out by a group of armed
masked men who launched the attack by burning down the victim's
house before cutting his throat.

Separately, in East Aceh regency, 10 houses were burned down
by nine masked armed rebels on Sunday at the predominantly
Javanese and Sundanese Kampung Bandung village in Karang Baru
district.

Aceh Timur Police precinct chief Supt. Abdullah Hayati
suspected the attack was aimed to incite clashes between
indigenous locals and migrants. (50/lup)