Government must work to restore security in Aceh: Governor

JAKARTA (JP): Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud called on the government on Monday to give serious attention to restoring security in the province, where he said people were still traumatized by the impact of a decade-long antiseparatist military operation.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka Palace, the governor said the trauma was so deep that residents were easily provoked by rumors of a military presence.

"If security forces came in, people would be terrified and they would flee," the governor said.

Syamsuddin said irresponsible groups, which he described as "unknown crowds", continued to agitate people against members of the Indonesian Military, although the soldiers' presence was meant to restore order and security in the villages.

"We continue to appeal to the people not to be provoked by rumors, but it is not easy," he said.

During the meeting with Habibie, the governor also reported on the delayed elections in East Aceh, North Aceh and Pidie. He said the decision on whether to hold elections in these three regencies depended on the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the National Elections Committee.

Earlier on Monday, KPU chairman Rudini announced the commission had decided to cancel the elections in North Aceh and Pidie due to rampant security disturbances in the regencies.

Meanwhile, Antara reported from Pidie that Ubit Pakek, 58, the principal of state-run elementary school SD Negeri No. 3 in Kota Bakti, and Hasballah, 54, a teacher at an elementary school in Bakti, were killed by a group of unidentified people on Sunday night.

Pidie Military Commander Lt. Col. Iskandar said the men's bodies were found by villagers near an irrigation ditch on Monday morning after they were forcefully removed from their homes by about 15 armed people.

The news agency did not give a motive for the killings. It only reported villagers were forced by the assailants to identify the homes of the two victims.

Meanwhile, citing witnesses and a military officer on Monday, Reuters reported that troops shot dead on Sunday a suspected separatist rebel in Nisam, North Aceh, about 300 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

The officer said the shooting occurred when a group of Indonesian soldiers on routine patrol encountered an unidentified motorcyclist who attempted to flee.

"The soldiers had to shoot because he was suspected of being a member of the rebel group," second Lt. Edi Haryanto, a local military officer in Nisam, said. "The victim was shot because he tried to flee."

Also on Sunday, a jeep was set ablaze in another part of the province. A number of schools and government buildings have been torched over the past month in attacks the military has blamed on separatist rebels.

Following the recent burning of 10 district offices in North Aceh, civil servants have been forced to move from location to location to continue their work.

"Some of the officials have resorted to working at local coffee shops, particularly to serve people who want to get new identity cards," regency spokesman Badruddin Ishak said.

The burned offices are located in the Samalanga, Sawang, Nisam, Blang Mangat, Samtalira Aron, Meurah Mulia, Tanah Pasir, Samudera, Baktiya and Seuneddon districts. (prb)