KL police suspect RI link to Aceh leader's murder
KL police suspect RI link to Aceh leader's murder
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian police are seriously
viewing the involvement of criminal syndicates with Indonesian
links in Thursday's execution style killing of Acehnese
separatist movement leader Teuku Don Zulfahri, a news report said
Saturday.
A federal police spokesman was quoted by the New Straits Times
as saying that police were investigating the involvement of
foreigners living in Malaysia who had close ties with criminals
in Indonesia.
Most of these foreigners claimed to be of Acehnese descent and
participated in firearm smuggling, international drug trafficking
and money laundering, the spokesman said. The paper did not
identify him.
"Crime syndicates are known to make retribution brutal and
public, thus ensuring the message is sent across loud and clear,"
he was quoted as saying.
The New Straits Times said that the Zulfahri, 40, had been
sought by police in connection with the seizure of high powered
firearms and a large cache of ammunition in Kuala Lumpur last
December.
Five people including several foreigners were arrested and
investigations later revealed an attempt by an armed group,
believed to be Acehnese, to pull off an embassy takeover on New
Year's eve, which the police foiled.
Zulfahri, who had been the secretary-general of the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM), was shot in the back of the head and left arm
while having a meal at a restaurant.
Malaysian police on Saturday continued their hunt for the
killer amid a welter of theories but few hard facts about the
murder.
When news of the killing spread, confusion initially arose as
to the identity of the deceased.
This incident made international headlines when Zulfahri's
wife, Singaporean born Putri Mei Abdullah was quoted by news
reports to have identified her husband as the deceased.
Hulu Langat deputy district police chief Superintendent Azmi
Hashim first identified the body as Lokman Hashim while Federal
Police identified him as Habib Adam.
Smuggle
A spokesman in North Aceh for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM),
Ismail Sahputra, said Friday he believed Indonesian military
intelligence agents killed Zulfahri.
But the Berita Harian newspaper quoted sources close to the
murdered man as saying they believed leaders of the mainstream
GAM ordered his killing.
The sources were quoted as saying that Zulfahri knew of
attempts to kill him and had constantly shifted from one place to
another to avoid detection.
The newspaper quoted another source -- a GAM military
commander in Aceh -- as saying the movement considered Zulfahri a
traitor and pro-Jakarta after he formed his splinter group.
The source said his actions hampered efforts to secure Aceh's
independence.
A source close to Malaysia's Acehnese community told AFP
Friday that Zulfahri, a 40-year-old father of two who had
resident status here, called a meeting of the community in March
1999.
After that he formed a group called the "ruling council of the
Free Aceh Movement." The source said Zulfahri was branded a
traitor and became an irritant to the main group.