Military, police hunt 25 Acehnese in Atambua
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
Local military intelligence has confirmed the presence of 25 members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group in Atambua near the border with East Timor, an officer claimed on Saturday.
East Nusa Tenggara's Wirasakti Military Command chief Col. Moeswarno Moesanip said that intelligence had found that the Acehnese were trading marijuana for weapons with former East Timorese pro-integration militia members who were now residing in Belu regency. The GAM members were also distributing fake rupiah and U.S. dollar banknotes.
"We failed to capture the GAM members as some of them managed to slip across into the East Timor. But we are still hunting down the rest," Moesanip said.
Separately, Belu Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Nugroho, told Antara on Saturday that 17 of the Acehnese were married.
The Acehnese were believed to have stayed at the Nusantara I Hotel in Atambua. The police said that the group was led by Abu Bakar Sulaiman.
Nugroho revealed that only two of the Acehnese had Indonesian passports.
"We have to prevent further problems (with East Timor) due to their presence in our jurisdiction, let alone their plan to enter East Timor even though only two of them hold Indonesian passports," he said.
He added that East Timor security officers were also hunting the Acehnese.
Atambua is the capital of Belu, the Indonesian regency which borders East Timor. Some 250,000 East Timorese took refuge in the regency to escape the violence which swept the former Indonesian province following the independence ballot in September 1999. Among the refugees were armed civilians from pro-Jakarta militia groups.
Recently, the Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa, who oversees Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, said the militia members' weapons were buried in many locations on Timor island.
He told a hearing with East Nusa Tenggara councillors that a satellite photo revealed underground arms dumps, but the security forces had as yet failed to find the precise locations where the weapons were buried.
Belu Police chief Agus told Antara on Saturday that his officers would continue to monitor the Acehnese.
"We'll keep an eye on whoever wants to cross the border to East Timor to find a job. As regards security and public order, we believe it's important to stay vigilant," he added.
GAM has been fighting for independence in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island for decades. More than 9,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in armed clashes between GAM and the military.
Reversing former president Abdurrahman Wahid's policy of peaceful efforts to solve the Aceh problem, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has taken a more violent approach with more troops pouring in to the province since she took office last July.