Police nationwide on alert for GAM members fleeing Aceh

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.