Three rebels killed, four others surrender

Three rebels killed, four others surrender

Three members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were killed in
separate gunfights with Army soldiers in Aceh while four others,
including a GAM official, surrendered.

Spokesman for the military operation in Aceh Lt. Col. Asep
Sapari said here over the weekend that three rebels were shot
dead and a number of rifles and rounds of ammunition seized in
gunfights between GAM rebels and soldiers in Bireuen, South Aceh,
and North Aceh on Friday and Saturday.

"The gunfights occurred when Army soldiers carried out
searches in villages where rebels were suspected to be hiding.
The three rebels' bodies were handed over to locals to be buried
in accordance with Muslim tradition," he said as quoted by
Antara.

Asep also said that Musa, field commander of the GAM military
wing in Manyak Payed, East Aceh, along with three other rebels,
surrendered to a security post in Merande Village after they had
wandered free in forested areas of the regency for years.

He said that upon their arrival at the security post attended
by marines, the four rebels apologized for having joined GAM and
for betraying the unitary state.

They vowed to return to their home villages to join their
families and to pledge loyalty to the Indonesian government, said
Asep.

Meanwhile, Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso said, on a
visit to Senggigi, West Nusa Tenggara, that despite the upcoming
general election, the military had no intention of declaring a
cease-fire with GAM.

Thousands of rebels have been killed and thousands of others
arrested and jailed during the military operation, which started
on May 19, 2003, and is scheduled to end on April 14. --JP