Remaining combat troops withdrawn from Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) has pulled out the 300 remaining combat troops from Aceh following the restoration of order in the riot-hit province.

The troops were transported by military trucks from the Aceh Military District Headquarters in Lhokseumauwe, North Aceh, on Wednesday. No ceremony was held to mark their departure.

Lt. Col. Agus Ramadhan, spokesman for the Bukit Barisan Military Command which oversees Aceh, North and West Sumatra and Riau, said the troops would be the last to leave Aceh following the recent lifting of the province's status as a military operation zone. "As of today, Aceh is free of combat troops," Antara quoted him as saying.

The first and second withdrawals of more than 1,000 troops took place on Aug. 20 and Aug. 31 respectively.

Combat troops had been deployed in the province since the Jaring Merah (red net) military operation was launched in 1989 to crush an Acehnese separatist movement.

ABRI had postponed withdrawing the remaining troops following the recent riots in Lhokseumauwe and Idie Rayeuk in East Aceh. It said the remaining troops would be withdrawn only after the situation in the province had been brought under control.

Almost 200 shops, government offices and other buildings were looted and set on fire in a riot that rocked Lhokseumauwe only hours after the second consignment of troops were withdrawn from the town. At least nine people have been detained for their involvement in the riot.

First Lt. Dwi Cahyono, chief detective in the East Aceh Police, said four people had been detained in connection with the riot in Idie Rayeuk last week. Around 100 students have also been arrested for their role in the riot.

Many have said the riots were engineered by certain parties who were attempting to prolong the combat troops' presence in the province. ABRI has denied inciting the riots.

Meanwhile, the Aceh branch of Association of Indonesian Moslem Students (HMI) has called on Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto to set up a team to investigate the riots and alleged atrocities committed by the military in the province.

"Wiranto should set up an ABRI investigation team if the recent findings of the National Commission on Human Rights team have made him hesitant," Muhammad Saleh, chairman of the Aceh branch of the HMI branch, said.

The investigative team set up by the rights body team recently estimated that at least 780 people were killed during the military operation in the province. They also exhumed a number of human skeletons from several mass graves in the province which are believed to contain the remains of those who died at the hands of the military. Wiranto has disputed some of the team's findings.

A House of Representatives fact-finding team which recently visited the province on a similar mission, called on President B.J. Habibie to visit Aceh.

However, Muhammad said it would be better for the military to set up a fact-finding team than for Habibie to pay an official visit.

A military honor council was set up by Wiranto last month to investigate the abduction of a number of political activists. As a result of the council's findings, former Army Special Force (Kopassus) commander Lt.Gen.(ret) Prabowo Subianto was discharged from the Armed Forces and two senior Kopassus officers were removed from active duties. The whereabouts of the missing activists remains unclear. (rms)