Police nationwide on alert for GAM members fleeing Aceh

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police nationwide are on full alert for fleeing members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who may attempt to take refuge in other provinces.

In Jakarta, the police stepped up surveillance on Saturday of about 20 locations in Greater Jakarta where GAM members might take refuge, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said.

He said the locations were in Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor and Depok.

Prasetyo said potential safe houses for GAM members included boarding houses and apartments.

The surveillance has of the locations has been under way for several days, and the police are being assisted in their efforts by local government officials and neighborhood leaders, said Prasetyo.

"The surveillance is being carried out as there is a possibility that GAM members, frightened by the military operation in Aceh, may flee to Jakarta," said Prasetyo after addressing a discussion here on Saturday.

A massive military offensive has been underway in Aceh since May 19, after GAM, which has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich Aceh since 1976, refused to bow to government demands that it give up its independence aspirations and lay down its arms. At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Aceh since the fight for independence began in 1976.

As GAM rebels become increasingly cornered by the military, the prospect of GAM members fleeing to other cities, including Jakarta, becomes more real.

There is growing apprehension among the public and law enforcers that GAM members may seek to carry out attacks on strategic locations in Jakarta.

Police investigators have accused GAM of responsibility for last month's bombings near the United Nations building in Central Jakarta and at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Prasetyo said the Jakarta Police was monitoring several suspected GAM members here, but their names could not be released while the investigation was ongoing.

"Police are closely monitoring these people," he said.

Prasetyo said the surveillance efforts were aimed at newly arrived Acehnese suspected of being GAM members, and not at those Acehnese who were long-time residents of Jakarta.

In Riau province, officers from the Langgam Police arrested three people who recently arrived in the area from Aceh. The three were detained on suspicion of being GAM members.

"Of the three, only one has admitted to being a GAM member," Langgam Police chief First. Insp. Raymond was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.

The three are now being held by the local military command for further questioning.

Earlier, the Pekanbaru Police in Riau arrested three suspected members of GAM in a hotel, after being tipped off by the Langkat Police.

In South Sumatra province, officers from the Palembang Police detained on Saturday four Acehnese suspected of being GAM members. The four were later released after police were unable to produce evidence that they were members of the separatist organization.

Officers from the nearby Ogan Komering Ulu Police are questioning five suspected GAM members who were detained on Thursday. Police identified the suspects as Syukri Hasim, 19, Abdullah, 20, Sofyan Yusuf, 33, Komarudin, 33, and Iqbal, 20.