Chaerul installed as Aceh Police chief
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Brig. Gen. Chaerul R. Rasyidi was sworn in as Aceh's new police chief on Tuesday and pledged to promote peace among the province's 4.2 million population.
Chaerul said in his address that he would work with the people to restore peace in the province, which for years has been rocked by bloody clashes between separatists and the Indonesian Military and police.
The transfer of duty ceremony, led by Insp. Gen. Muhammad Nurdin on behalf of the National Police chief, took place at the Bhayangkara building in Banda Aceh.
After the ceremony, Nurdin called on every layer of society in Aceh to help the new police chief carry out his duty to restore peace in Aceh.
"Give him a chance to calm the atmosphere," Nurdin was quoted by Antara as saying.
Chaerul replaced Brig. Gen. Doddy Sumantyawan, who was transferred to Central Java to be the deputy governor of the Semarang Police Academy.
Doddy held the Aceh Police chief post for only three months.
Meanwhile, Aceh Besar Police chief Supt. Sayed Hoesainy said on Tuesday that Kuta Baro Police chief Second Insp. Dadang Purnomo and Mobile Brigade platoon commander Second Sgt. Mansur were abducted by armed civilians on Oct. 5.
"The two officers were kidnapped by two armed men on a motorcycle while on their way to an area east of the subprecinct on Thursday," he said.
Witnesses identified the abductors as members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), he said, adding that an Aceh Besar police officer, Pvt. Sulaiman Yacub, was also abducted by the same group of people.
He speculated that Sulaiman was picked because he knew too much about the kidnapping of the other two officers.
In Banda Aceh, GAM denied responsibility for the disappearance of the officers.
"We have checked several GAM posts in Aceh Besar and found none of them. We are not responsible for that (the alleged abductions)," GAM spokesman Amni bin Marzuki told the Joint Committee for Security Modality of the Humanitarian Pause.
Meanwhile, gun battles in Aceh continued despite an agreement between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government to extend the humanitarian pause.
On Monday, two men were shot dead and two others were injured in East Aceh during an operation by soldiers and members of the police's Mobile Brigade.
Thirteen people were arrested, an activist told The Jakarta Post, adding that all the victims were civilian residents of Naleung village in Julok district.
Zulkarnaini, coordinator of the Youths and Students Against Violence Front (Fomapak), identified the dead as Muhammad Amin, 21, and Saiful, 32. The injured are Syarifah binti Abdullah, a 30-year-old woman, and Samin bin Ali, 42. They are being treated at Langsa General Hospital.(50/lup/sur)