Military, police hunt 25 Acehnese in Atambua
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.