GAM rebels deny claims they want cease-fire

GAM rebels deny claims they want cease-fire

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels here
decried President Abdurrahman Wahid's claims that they had agreed
to a ceasefire and called him a liar.

GAM sources here told The Jakarta Post that they would abide
by whatever decision their exiled leader Hassan Tiro made,
however they said "up to now we haven't heard any order from
Hassan Tiro. We will keep on fighting until the order is given".

Hassan Tiro himself angrily denied claims he had agreed to a
ceasefire.

Tiro said from his home in Stockholm's suburb of Botyrka on
Thursday that he had struck no peace deal with the Indonesian
government at talks in Switzerland.

Speaking by telephone Tiro described the claim as a "lie".

Abdurrahman claimed earlier this week that Tiro had held talks
with Indonesian ambassadors and agreed to stop the fighting.

Tiro said there had been no such meeting and there would be no
cease-fire.

"There is no such thing," his spokesman, Bakhtiar Abdullah,
said later. "The so-called ceasefire has never been formally
signed or agreed upon. The meeting never took place."

Abdullah said the rebels would continue fighting until Aceh
gained independence.

"We will never stop fighting until our objective of freeing
Aceh from the neocolonialist Indonesian regime of Jakarta is
achieved," Abdullah said as quoted by AP from the Swedish
capital.

Rally

Meanwhile students held a massive rally here on Friday to
commemorate the first anniversary of demands for a referendum.

They also called for a peaceful ballot and a cease-fire
between the warring parties.

The rally was held in three locations -- the Darussalam campus
on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque and
the provincial council building on Jl. Tengku Daud Beureu-eh.

While the rally was generally peaceful, a small incident
occurred near the provincial council building when police tore
down a white-and-blue separatist flag that the students had
raised.

"There is no permit for this event and therefore you all have
to disperse," Aceh Besar Police chief Lt. Col. Ali Husin said.

Separately, about 600 Marines left the province on Thursday to
be deployed back to their base in Surabaya, East Java.

"Troop refreshment is needed," Lilawangsa Military Commander
Col. Syafnil Armen said.

But he quickly asserted that police would continue their
aggressive operations against rebels.

Violence has continued unabated in the past two days.

At least five bodies were found in North Aceh and Pidie
regencies.

The corpse of Ashari, 40, from Lueng Daneun village in
Peusangan district was found on Thursday in Hagu Barat Laut
village in Banda Sakti, Lhokseumawe. He had been stabbed and his
hands and feet were tied.

"His body along with another unidentified corpse was found
here by locals," Syukri Taher, an official from Cut Meutia
Hospital in Lhokseumawe, said on Friday.

A retired army member, Ismail Hansfiah, 56, was shot dead by
two armed men in his house in Cot Girek Kandang village, Muara
Dua, North Aceh.

"The attackers fled on Ismail's motorbike," local police chief
Lt. Col. Syafei Aksal said, adding that police on Friday also
discovered the body of a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform on a
hill in Meunasah Dayoh Paloh village.

"Security personnel found her remains, which were buried only
a few centimeters below ground, during a sweeping operation in
the area," he said.

The fifth body which was found near the river at Krueng Daroh
village in Meurudu, Pidie.

Syahrul Sulaiman, 29, was found with a single bullet in his
body. His body had been there since Tuesday after rebels engaged
security forces near the village.

Separately in Jakarta, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen.
Erald Dotulong on Friday said he had received a report from Aceh
provincial police that 1,540 GAM rebels surrendered at five
precincts in Aceh recently.

"Most of them confessed to having received some kind of
military training," he said.

Erald urged other separatist rebels to surrender before they
are arrested for their criminal activities.

According to police data since May at least 185 GAM rebels
have been arrested. Police have also confiscated 12,116 GAM
flags.

Police operations in the area have also confiscated 35
firearms, 2,457 homemade bombs, 175 stolen vehicles, 3,797
kilograms of marijuana leaves and 66,207 marijuana trees.
(50/ylt/edt)