Libya-trained rebels blamed for current Aceh violence

Libya-trained rebels blamed for current Aceh violence

JAKARTA (JP): The military blamed Libya-trained separatist
rebels for the current situation in Aceh, where some 100,000
residents have fled their homes.

The assistant to the chief of Military General Affairs on
Operational Affairs, Maj. Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, said one
cause of the unrest in Aceh was the arrival of some 600 Acehnese
trained in Libya and a number of Acehnese who were deported from
Malaysia.

They arrived in the province about six months ago, he said.

"When they arrived they were financially supported by the
administration" because they were unemployed, Endriartono said at
a media conference on Thursday.

They began to rob people after the financial support was
ended, he said.

"They began their robberies after acquiring firearms from
fellow (rebels) in Thailand," he said.

The Far Eastern Economic Review in its latest edition quoted
intelligence sources here as saying the Pattani United Liberation
Organization, a separatist Muslim group in southern Thailand, was
helping to channel AK-47 guns across the Thai-Malaysian border to
the northern coast of Sumatra.

Endriartono reiterated the official version that the thousands
of refugees in Aceh were told to evacuate their villages by the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM). He said the reason for this was to help
protect GAM from the security personnel searching for them.

Some refugees have reportedly said they were told to flee by
GAM, while others have said they were fleeing the threat of
military violence.

Endriartono said troops were deployed to Aceh to ensure
security.

He said if the security situation worsened and became a
"military emergency" situation, it was possible military
operations would be continued in the province.

The present military operations in Aceh are civilian-oriented,
he said, referring to the presence of Crack Riot Troops under the
command of the National Police.

Meanwhile, Aceh is bracing for a mass strike initiated by the
Organda organization of public transportation owners, students
and human rights groups.

The call for a strike on Aug. 4 and Aug. 5 has stirred
controversy, with critics saying there are ways to protest
military violence without causing further suffering.

Organda called for the strike following the harassment and
beating of bus crews, as well as the burning of several buses by
unidentified armed groups.

In Bandung, West Java, during a seminar hosted by the Bandung
Institute of Technology, activist Munir lambasted the failure of
legislators to adequately respond to the problems in Aceh.

Those suspected of having links with the Free Aceh Movement
have been abducted, arbitrarily detained, tortured and killed,
activists have said.

Munir, the coordinator of the independent Committee for
Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, said with the worsening
situation in Aceh, legislators "should ask for President's B.J.
Habibie's explanation of his handling of the matter".

He said if representatives of political parties maintained
their silence, "it was tantamount to giving their blessing to
atrocities in Aceh".

A statement from Free Aceh Movement secretary-general Teuku
Don Zulfahri, who resides in Malaysia, was read out at the
seminar. According to the statement, Aceh had never been a part
of Indonesia.

"Aceh sultanates and other leaders such as Tengku Daud Bereueh
never gave away Aceh's sovereignty to any state." (43/edt/rms)