GAM denies having trained Deli rebels
Muharram M. Nur, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The Free Aceh Separatist Movement (GAM) denied on Wednesday that it was training rebels of the so-named Free Deli Separatist Movement (GDM), aimed at fighting for the separation of the Deli sultanate in the northern part of North Sumatra from Indonesia.
"GAM has never trained Deli rebels. The true story is that a number of Deli descendants joined GAM two years ago to learn about guerrilla techniques and how to fight for independence," Tengku Amri bin Abdul Wahad, field commander of GAM's military wing (AGAM), told The Jakarta Post by cellular phone in his hiding place in Aceh Besar regency.
Amri made the denial in responding to the statement of Ishak Daud, commander of GAM's North Aceh regional command, in Perlak on Tuesday that the separatist movement was training 500 GDM rebels in East Aceh. Ishak made the statement in line with the release of state-owned TV station TVRI's two crew members who had been abducted by GAM since early in Aug. 2001.
TV station SCTV, which showed the military training, also quoted a Deli prince who confirmed the existence of the Deli separatist movement, which was officially established in 1998.
Meanwhile, in Medan, North Sumatra governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin, ruled out the media reports, saying he did not believe that Melayu descendants had established a separatist movement to fight for the Deli sultanate's independence.
"I'm not sure the people who claimed themselves to be descendants of the Deli sultan want the sultanate to be separated from the unitary state and have established a separatist movement for that purpose," Sakyan Asmara, spokesman for the North Sumatra provincial government, quoted the governor as saying in Medan on Wednesday.
Asmara said that according Nurdin, also a Melayu descendant, the Deli separatist movement was merely a rumor that had been intentionally spread by certain parties to discredit the Deli sultanate's big family.
He said the governor would ask all descendants of the Deli sultan in the provincial capital to lodge an official report on the issue for the local police to follow up.
He said the governor had also called on the mass media not to exaggerate the separatist movement issue because it could produce a negative connotation regarding Malay descendants' image in the province.