Red Cross worker killed in Aceh
Red Cross worker killed in Aceh
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
An employee with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in the regency
of Bireun, Aceh, Jafar Syehdo, 57, was found dead -- with gunshot
wounds to his head and body -- on a road in the village of
Glumpang Payong, Jeumpa district in Bireun on Wednesday night, a
Red Cross official confirmed on Thursday.
The secretary of the Indonesian Red Cross office in Bireun,
Ali Ahmad, said that the dead body of a vegetable trader
identified as Sayid Mursid, 36, was also found some 100 meters
away from Jafar's body. Sayid was known to be a friend of
Jafar's.
"Both the dead bodies were transported to the Dr. Fauziah
Hospital in Bireun," Ali said.
Sources at PMI Bireun said that Jafar was last seen on the way
home in Bireun at 9 p.m. on Wednesday not long before the office
was informed that two dead bodies of the men were found in
Glumpang Payong. His PMI colleagues did not realize at that time
that one of the dead men was Jafar.
The killing of the Red Cross employee came as a blow to all
humanitarian workers in Bireun. "If a Red Cross worker can be
murdered, what could happen to common people," lamented one of
Jafar's colleagues.
Meanwhile, a member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Mawardi,
21, was shot dead in a raid on a house by Army troops in Alue
Bili village in Baktya district, North Aceh, on Wednesday.
Military spokesman in Aceh Lt. Col. Firdaus claims that
Mawardi and some other GAM members stopped a bus on the Aceh-
Medan highway, but were frightened away when they saw an army
patrol.
"They (suspected GAM members) dispersed upon seeing the
military patrol. Mawardi entered a nearby resident's house, and
began shooting at the military when ordered to surrender. He was
shot in the incident and an FN Beretta pistol was seized from
him," said Firdaus.
Meanwhile, recently many activists and aid workers, especially
human rights activists, have found it increasingly risky to work
in the troubled province and many fear for their lives.
"Many discussions on human rights have been held outside
Aceh," said Maimul Fidar, coordinator of the Coalition of Non-
Governmental Organizations in Aceh.
He urged the government troops and GAM to find a way to stop
the violence and promote talks to end the war, citing the recent
telephone discussion between a GAM spokesman in East Aceh, Ishak
Daud with the Lhokseumawe military officers.
"We are happy with such open discussions. Hopefully, more
telephone communication can be made for the sake of peace."