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