GAM holding 151 civilians hostage: TNI

GAM holding 151 civilians hostage: TNI

Teuku Agam Muzakir and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post,
Lhokseumawe/Banda Aceh

The military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) traded accusations
of kidnapping on Saturday, highlighting the suffering of
civilians in the province as the war between the rebels and the
military rages on.

The spokesman for the military operation in Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam, Lt. Col. CAJ Ahmad Yani Basuki, said GAM was holding
as many as 151 civilians hostage, including television reporter
Ersa Siregar and cameraman Fery Santoro.

He said he arrived at that figure after a number of regency
administrations reported missing residents. He did not say how he
arrived at the conclusion that the missing residents had been
abducted by GAM.

"The initial number was 181 people, but then five of them were
found dead and 25 have already been released," Yani said in
Lhokseumawe.

Ishak Daud, the GAM commander overseeing East Aceh, said his
troops were holding 84 people, mostly for "conducting espionage
missions for and building close ties with the military".

"We have repeatedly told the Indonesian Military we are ready
to release them through the PMI, but they have rejected the
terms," Ishak said in a phone interview. PMI is the acronym for
the Indonesian Red Cross.

Among the hostages are Ersa and Ferry of RCTI TV, two Acehnese
women whose husbands are military officers and a number of
village and district chiefs, Ishak said.

The GAM spokesman in Pasee, Teungku Jamaika, denied that the
rebel group was responsible for any abductions. He accused the
military and police of kidnapping civilians they suspected of
being rebels.

"Please check in the field. There are many civilians being
kidnapped by intelligence officers, and the fate of these people
who have been abducted remains uncertain," Jamaika said.

He acknowledged that GAM was detaining a number of people
believed to have been involved in intelligence work for the
military.

Military spokesman Yani denied the TNI was hesitant to secure
the release of the civilian hostages. He also accused the rebels
of using the rebels as human shields.

"GAM is conducting a secessionist movement and it pits them
against the TNI. When the rebels come under attack, they take
civilians hostage and use them as human shields," he said.

Yani said the number of abductions and robberies committed by
rebels was increasing.

He added that the military was doing everything it could to
rescue the hostages, including raiding suspected GAM bases where
the hostages were possibly being held.

"We do it carefully to avoid civilian fatalities," Yani said.

Separately, a girl identified as Suraya Putri, 19, was shot
dead by suspected GAM rebels in the Peusangan district, Bireuen
regency.

The spokesman for the security restoration operation in Aceh,
Sr. Comr. Sayed Hoesainy, said on Saturday the girl was murdered
on Thursday.

"There were gunshot wounds to her leg and head. She was
possibly shot at close range," he said.

The girl's body was transported by the Indonesian Red Cross to
her house in Bireuen, some 202 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.

Sayed said the murder was proof of the increasing brutality of
the separatist rebels.

Separately, he said a group of Mobile Brigade police officers
had arrested two suspected rebels in the villages of Dayah Bueuh
Aree and Reubee in Delima district, Pidie regency.

The two suspected GAM members were identified as Abdul Rahman,
25, and A Rachman Nago, 50. Sayed said the two were involved in a
series of crimes.