GAM denies having trained Deli rebels
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.