Four bodies found as GAM celebrates 25th anniversary
Four bodies found as GAM celebrates 25th anniversary
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Four gunshot-riddled bodies were found separately in the restive
province of Aceh on Tuesday, while the separatist Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) held underground celebrations marking its self-
styled 25th anniversary.
An official at the Langsa General Hospital in East Aceh said
that the hospital received the four bodies on Tuesday morning.
Four other injured civilians were also sent to the hospital at
the same time, the official, who wished to remain anonymous,
said. He did not reveal who sent the dead to the hospital.
Meanwhile a bomb blast injured four people, including a three-
year-old child, in a residential area in the village of Hagu
Barat Laut in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh.
The child is now being treated at the Cut Meutia Hospital in
Lhokseumawe while the other three were treated at the Lilawangsa
Military Hospital in Lhokseumawe.
In general, GAM's anniversary ran smoothly without clashes
between GAM and military troops.
GAM spokesman Sofyan Firdaus told The Jakarta Post that
anniversary ceremonies were led by regional commanders in 19
areas.
The major ceremony was in the regency of Pidie led by
commander Tengku Abdullah Syafiie, Sofyan said.
"A statement written by GAM chief Tengku Muhammad Hasan di
Tiro were read at all the ceremonies (which started at 8 a.m.
local time)," Sofyan said.
GAM's self-proclaimed anniversary falls on Dec. 4 following
Hasan di Tiro's dream of an independent Aceh, free from
Indonesian oppression. He declared Aceh's independence in the
United States on Dec. 4, 1976.
The 77-year-old Hasan di Tiro is now living in Norsborg on the
outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden.
In his statement read out in the Tuesday's ceremony, Hasan di
Tiro called on the people of Aceh to go on fighting against what
he called oppression by the Indonesian-Javanese power.
Aceh's demand for independence was initially based on its
accusations that Indonesia had unfairly exploited the province's
natural resources.
Indonesian Military spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus, speaking from
Banda Aceh on Tuesday, said that he had joined helicopter patrols
over several regencies, including Pidie, Bireun, North Aceh and
East Aceh. "But we saw no people in groups observing ceremonies.
Therefore there had been no clashes between military and GAM
troops until Tuesday afternoon."
Last year large groups of Acehnese people celebrated the
anniversary in open areas.
"There might be few groups of people who held ceremonies in
hidden places. That was okay as long as they (GAM members) did
not force or intimidate civilians to join the anniversary
ceremonies," said Firdaus.
Despite the fact that people did not openly celebrate, most
corners of the province, located at the tip of the island of
Sumatra, were quiet on Tuesday. Public transport operations shut
down for unknown reasons.
In the capital of Banda Aceh armed police officers were on
alert at strategic locations throughout the city. Many of them
used the state-owned DAMRI buses to transport people from the
city to surrounding towns in the absence of bus drivers.
The police officers confiscated hundreds of GAM flags from
locals in several villages, including Cot Keu-eung, some 15
kilometers north of Banda Aceh.