Police accuse GAM of abducting officer's son

Police accuse GAM of abducting officer's son

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): The police accused members of the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) of kidnapping the son of the Aceh Besar
police chief, Supt. Sayed Hoesainy. The boy has been missing
since Aug. 28, 2000, a police officer said on Tuesday.

The accusation was aired by Aceh Provincial Police chief Brig.
Gen. Doddy Sumantyawan, while identifying the missing boy as 16-
year-old Sayed Ikram, a high school student.

"We will adopt a persuasive approach in order to set him
(Ikram) free," Doddy said as quoted by Antara.

He claimed that he had received a tip-off, saying that GAM
would set Ikram free in exchange for three of their members who
are currently in police detention.

"However, we haven't heard anything from GAM about
negotiations."

Doddy said Ikram was last seen on the morning of Aug. 28 when
he left for school. However, he failed to return home later in
the afternoon.

"We strongly believe that he has been abducted by GAM," he
said.

Ikram is the third of Hoesainy's five children.

Doddy called on the movement members not to hurt Ikram, saying
that the boy had nothing to do with police operations in the
area.

Separately, GAM commander in Aceh Besar, Abu Tazurra, said on
Tuesday that Ikram was okay and would soon be returned to his
family.

"Ikram is alive and will be returned to his family after we
have finished with his prosecution," he said.

He claimed that Ikram was taken into "custody" by local
residents while attempting to obtain dried marijuana leaves in
Lamteuba village.

"The residents then handed him over to us ten days ago for
legal prosecution," he said, adding that the residents believed
that Jakarta law did not apply in the area.

Abu dismissed allegations that GAM had planned to exchange the
boy for its three members, saying that Ikram had been arrested
prior to the arrest of the three GAM members and that the two
cases were not related.

"The boy has violated our laws, while our three members are
political prisoners," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Doddy announced that the police had raided
a house, allegedly used by GAM members as their headquarters in
Cot village, Darussalam district, Aceh Besar regency.

Doddy said that after searching the house, the police found
and confiscated homemade explosives, 179 bullets, two hand
grenades, 20 kilograms of fertilizer allegedly used as raw
material for explosives and nine packages of gunpowder.

The police also seized 14 batteries and a 25-meter-long cable,
both used to detonate bombs, the movement's flag, stationary
imprinted with GAM symbols, three motorcycles and two cars.

Dody said the house had been used as a meeting place to
discuss plans for bomb attacks across the area, including those
which exploded at the Baiturrahman police precinct office and the
Provincial Legislative Council compound on Monday.

In a related development, two armed civilians on a motorcycle
threw a grenade at the residence of North Aceh police chief Supt.
Abadan Bangko on Jl. Merdeka in the North Aceh regency capital of
Lhokseumawe, Tuesday afternoon.

Abadan said the grenade had damaged the roof of the house and
shattered several windows, but nobody was injured in the
incident.

"The police didn't fire on the attackers as this is a housing
complex crowded with residents. But we will continue to track
them down," he said.

Meanwhile, residents of eight villages in Krueng Sabee
district in West Aceh regency have fled their homes to take
refuge in the district's grand mosque, fearing that another
shootout between the military and armed rebels could erupt at
anytime in their villages. A series of gunfights between the two
sides occurred over the weekend. (50/lup)