TNI claims GAM kidnapped oil workers
Agencies, Banda Aceh
Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province are demanding a ransom for three kidnapped oil company workers, the military said here on Wednesday.
The three Indonesians, who are employed by a subcontractor of state energy firm Pertamina, have been held since March 16 by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), military spokesman Maj. Zaenal Muttaqin told AFP.
Muttaqin said the three were driving to the Pertamina-owned Rantau oil and gas field in the Sukaramai area of East Aceh when they were abducted at gunpoint.
He said rebels had contacted Pertamina officials in East Aceh and demanded a ransom of Rp 2 billion (approximately US$208,000).
Pertamina's public relations chief, Ridwan Nyak Baik, confirmed the kidnapping.
He told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Wednesday that the three people -- a driver and two workers at Pertamina's oil and gas field in Perapen, Kuala Simpang, a subdistrict of East Aceh regency -- had been abducted on March 16.
Ridwan said the company had contacted the police in Aceh Timur and was informed that the whereabouts of the three workers were still unknown.
"We also cannot confirm whether or not they have been kidnapped by members of the Free Aceh Movement," he said, adding that the Perapen oil and gas field was part of the Rantau production field, which produces about 6,700 barrels of oil per day and 85 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The oil production area employs more than 500 people. But it is not clear whether there are any foreign workers there.
Officials of the Rantau field did not mention any ransom demands from the kidnappers.
The military said Pertamina only reported the kidnapping to them on Monday.
There have been a number of previous kidnappings in Aceh, but this is the first kidnapping for ransom. These earlier kidnappings included seven junior high school and high school students in Peureulak, East Aceh, and five religious leaders and city councillors in South Aceh.
Meanwhile, six suspected GAM rebels were killed in separate incidents over the past two days, the military and police said.
Two rebels were shot dead in the Gle Blang Malo area of Pidie district on Tuesday, said district military chief, Lt. Col. Supartodi.
Soldiers killed another rebel in Pidie's Gle Seunong area on Tuesday, he added.
Soldiers shot dead three rebels in Darul Makmur, West Aceh, on Monday, according to district police spokesman Dadek Ahmad.
An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Aceh since December 1976, when GAM began its fight for an independent Islamic state in this province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
More than 300 people have been killed this year alone in the resource-rich province.