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)