Military arrests man for making weapons for GAM

Military arrests man for making weapons for GAM

PADANG, West Sumatra (JP): Intelligence personnel from the
Wirabraja Military Regional Command in Padang arrested an
Acehnese man on suspicion of manufacturing weapons for the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an officer said on Monday.

Wirabraja Regional Military Commander Col. Soeprijanto
identified the suspect as 46-year-old Tengku Saleh. He said the
suspect was detained at a house in Koto Baru village, Maninjau
district, Agam regency, West Sumatra, on Friday.

Officers also confiscated three pistols, two rifles, a manual
on how to use and assemble FN pistols and several tools used to
make weapons.

"Our intelligence officers moved in after collecting
sufficient information and making sure they had the evidence,"
Soeprijanto said.

He said he ordered his intelligence personnel to place Saleh
under surveillance after receiving reports the suspect had told
several people he made guns for GAM.

During preliminary questioning, Saleh, who has resided in Koto
Baru village since 1993 and is married to a local woman,
reportedly admitted he had supplied at least 30 weapons to
separatist rebels in Aceh via a broker in the strife-torn
province.

The suspect also confessed that he received orders from the
rebel group to repair broken weapons.

Soeprijadi said Saleh had been handed over to the local police
for further investigation as he was suspected to be part of a
larger syndicate.

Aceh rebels have been engaged in an armed conflict with
Indonesian security forces for years, but authorities have made
little progress in uncovering who is supplying arms to the
separatist group.

Separately in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, police
said a strike by truck and bus drivers that has dragged on for
over a week was not purely motivated by concerns over illegal
levies.

Aceh Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sad Harun said a
preliminary police examination showed the strike was being
spurred on by separatist rebels seeking to paralyze the province
economically.

Sad Harun admitted security forces did stop trucks on certain
routes, but maintained this was for security reasons and not to
collect illegal levies from drivers.

He said that through such security measures police were able
sometime ago to intercept a shipment of thousands of bullets
being transported from Medan, North Sumatra, to North Aceh.

"We received information from the public that the armed
separatist group intimidated truck drivers in Paya Demam and
Panthon Labu in East Aceh to hold the strike," Sad Harun said in
a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile in Bandung, West Java, Minister of Defense Mahfud MD
said he wanted to correct misleading reports about the
deployment of security personnel to Aceh.

Mahfud said the troops were dispatched to Aceh for one main
reason: to maintain peace and order so a dialog between the
rebels and the government could proceed.

"The government still wants to solve the problems in Aceh
through dialog, and this dialog and other humanitarian programs
can only be achieved if security and order are maintained," he
said after attending a ceremony to mark the handover of a Super
Puma NAS-332 from state-owned aircraft company PT Dirgantara
Indonesia to the Air Force. (28/25/emf)