More militia groups set up to fight GAM

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

After the six-month extension of martial law in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, civilians have been mobilized to set up militia groups across the war-torn province to help crush separatist rebels.

Members of these groups are equipped with sharpened bamboo sticks and machetes and wear white-and-red headbands. Most claim that they were victims of violence blamed on Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

An Acehnese man, Ahmad, 31, was among those civilians in Aceh Besar regency who joined a militia group.

Along with around 1,500 people, mostly youths, he gathered at Peukan Biluy water fountain, about 15 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, to declare the establishment of the Anti Aceh-Separatist Front (FPAS GAM) recently.

The group was initiated to help the military and police crush the rebels who are believed to have set up camps in the hilly area, known as a GAM stronghold.

"We were asked recently to gather here and Pak Keuchik (the village head) said that we should hunt for GAM rebels in that mountainous area," Ahmad, who is a banana vendor in Lambaro traditional market, said.

Nevertheless, he refused to answer a question pertaining to whether or not he would use sharp weapons to fight the separatist guerrillas.

"I'm afraid the military will say I am a GAM member if I refuse to join (a militia group). It is better I am here (with the group), isn't it?" Ahmad asked.

The wives of those joining the group also met at the fountain. They expressed concerns over their husbands' safety, arguing that they already knew that it was impossible to fight GAM that was equipped with guns, including AK-47s.

However, after a whole day looking for GAM rebels the members of the group failed to find even one guerrilla.

Martial law was extended in Aceh on Nov. 19.

Earlier, the Indonesian Military (TNI) blamed a lack of public support from Acehnese civilians for its failure to capture key GAM leaders.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has endorsed the mobilization of civilians in Aceh.

The military, however, refused to call the group a militia group, despite the fact that its members are allowed to carry sharp weapons.

Similar anti-GAM movements had earlier been initiated in Central Aceh and Bireun and other regencies across Aceh.

In Aceh Jaya regency, the anti-GAM movement is called the Anti-Free Aceh Movement Front (FAGSAM), while in South Aceh, thousands of civilians have established the Anti-Separatist Movement (GPSG). In Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, a similar group is called the People's Fortress to Fight Aceh Separatists (Berantas).

In Indrapuri subdistrict, security officers have reportedly asked the wives of GAM rebels and their relatives to help them locate the guerrillas.

Human rights activists have expressed concern over the rampant establishment of militia groups in Aceh, saying the move could create civil war there.

In 1999, the TNI backed the establishment of pro-integration militia groups in the country's former province of East Timor ahead of a UN-sponsored independence vote there.

The militiamen were blamed for carnage in East Timor when it voted for independence in August 1999.