Suspected arms supplier dies from beating in Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): A military police officer who was detained for selling arms to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has died from severe head and bodily injuries, a hospital administrator said.

The director of Tapak Tuan Hospital in South Aceh, T.M. Thaib, said on Wednesday night a postmortem report on Pvt. Zulkifli concluded he died from blows from blunt objects.

"The soldier was already dead when he was admitted here. Bruises were found on his body and his face was crushed," Thaib said.

The body of Zulkifli was delivered by a number of Police Mobile Brigade personnel at about 5 p.m., hours after his detention following a predawn sweep of weaponry. There were no details on where he died.

Zulkifli confessed during questioning to stealing six M-16 semiautomatic rifles and two FN pistols, which he sold to GAM for Rp 80 million.

The body of Zulkifli was admitted to the hospital along with that of a suspected robber identified as Makruf, 37, who also died from severe head injuries.

Teuku Umar Military chief Col. Syarifuddin Tippe said later on Wednesday that in the past two months 20 military personnel deserted, five of them fleeing with 14 guns.

The death of Zulkifli came hours before a convoy of five trucks loaded with troops from Battalion 113 was the target of a bomb attack in Beurandeh Alue village in Pidie on their way from Sigli to Bireun.

Witnesses said the troops tried to disperse the crowd at the scene of the incident, but finally opened fire, leaving a local identified as M. Yahya, 35, dead.

Pidie Military District chief Lt. Col. Iskandar M.S. said he did not know who shot the man.

In North Aceh, residents of Paluh village in Muara Dua district found two bodies wrapped in GAM flags on Thursday. They had been shot.

Several residents said they saw a passing jeep drop two bags on the road on Wednesday night. They only discovered the corpses the following morning.

Also Wednesday night, five soldiers were severely injured after a group of suspected rebels ambushed a convoy of five Kijang vans in Cot Batee Geulungku village, Samalanga district, in Bireun, North Aceh.

Aceh Police spokesman Lt. Col. Sayed Husaini identified the injured personnel as Second Lt. Heridian, Second Sgt. Deston Sidabutar, Second Sgt. Eep Saiful, Second Sgt. Wilianto and Pvt. Simima.

They are in critical condition at Bireun Hospital and Lilawangsa Military Hospital in Lhokseumawe.

"The rebels used AK-47 rifles. They intercepted the convoy after flashing lights at the vans to cause a visual disturbance to allow them to attack the soldiers easily," Sayed said. (50/51/edt/sur)