GAM 'governor' captured

GAM 'governor' captured

BANDA ACEH, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam: Soldiers captured
Muhammad Aris, 72, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) governor for
Pidie, after a raid in Pidie district, an official said on
Sunday.

Lt. Col. Asep Sapari, spokesman for the Security Restoration
Operation Task Force (Koopslihkam), said Aris was arrested on
Saturday in a forest of Bandar Baru in Pidie, some 150 kilometers
east of Banda Aceh.

Earlier last week, deputy GAM governor for Aceh Jaya Sarbini
surrendered to the military in Suak Beukah village in Sampoiniet
district, some 120 km west of Banda Aceh.

Asep said gunfire with separatist rebels broke out when 13
soldiers on patrol spotted a group of people carrying firearms
and an old man in the Bandar Baru forest.

The soldiers fired shots at the group of men after identifying
them as GAM members. The guerrillas, however, managed to flee and
left the elderly man behind, who was later identified as Muhammad
Aris, Asep added.

He said the military also seized a few rounds of ammunition, a
battery charger for cellular phones and other equipment from the
GAM governor who is now in detention. --Antara