Military confirms Aceh rebels' arrest

JAKARTA (JP): Teuku Umar Military chief Col. Syarifuddin Tippe confirmed on Tuesday the military arrested 20 alleged Aceh separatists in Tennom, West Aceh regency last week, while a human rights group urged the military to find the whereabouts of at least 32 missing civilians in the troubled province.

The afternoon daily, Suara Pembaruan, quoted Syarifuddin on Wednesday as saying a 15-strong military team ambushed the training center of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Builoh Mountain last Wednesday and captured 20 separatists there.

"They are still being questioned now and we will hand them over later to police," the colonel said.

He quoted some of the detainees as telling him they received Rp 50,000 (US$6) from GAM leaders for their activities.

The daily, however, quoted a human rights group as saying the 20 men were only ordinary villagers who work at a logging company. Their families were not allowed to meet with them in their detention center in Meulaboh, the capital of West Aceh.

Reuters reported on Wednesday from Medan in North Sumatra that a soldier was shot dead in the town of Blang Siren, near the industrial town of Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, when a group of soldiers were stopped by 10 armed men on Tuesday.

The soldiers exchanged gunfire with the gunmen who were believed to be GAM rebels, villagers said.

Violence has escalated in recent months, prompting some 70,000 people to flee their homes to seek shelter in mosques and makeshift camps.

Eight alleged rebels were shot dead in two separate clashes in East Aceh and Central Aceh on Monday, while on the same day the bodies of two policemen were found in East Aceh with severe wounds.(prb)