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.