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)