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