Top GAM guerrilla leader killed in clash

Top GAM guerrilla leader killed in clash

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A top Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrilla leader was reported
killed on Thursday following an armed clash between rebel forces
and Indonesian military (TNI) personnel in East Aceh.

Lt. Col. Asep Sapari, a TNI spokesman in Aceh, said late on
Friday that the man, whose remains are being held at a TNI
outpost in the Peureulak area, East Aceh regency, was likely
Ishak Daud, the high profile GAM commander in the Peureulak area.

If the report is true, then he will be the first senior GAM
officer to have fallen since the TNI launched its massive
military operation in Aceh in May of last year. "It is likely
that the person is Ishak Daud," said Sapari, saying that the body
had a burn scar on the right hand, as did Ishak.

Some residents in the Peureulak area, some 400 kilometers east
of Banda Aceh, went further and confirmed that the dead person
was indeed Ishak Daud.

The TNI, however, remained cautious and chose to wait for
identification by family members before concluding that the
person in question was Ishak Daud. "We are waiting for his family
to identify him," Sapari said as quoted by Antara.

A source later said that the father-in-law of Ishak, Ismail
Muda, had traveled to the TNI outpost late on Friday and
confirmed that the dead man was Ishak.

The source said that Ismail had also confirmed that another
body being held at the outpost was Ishak's wife, Cut Rostina.

The two were believed to have died, along with 11 other GAM
members, after a firefight between TNI personnel and GAM members
on Geulumpang Hill and near Babah Krueng Village in the Peureulak
area, East Aceh regency on Thursday. The remains of all 11 GAM
members had already been buried by local residents, except for
the two bodies still being held by the TNI.

The TNI recovered 10 rifles following the incident, which
began on Wednesday after TNI personnel discovered that a group of
GAM members were in the Peureulak area. They finally intercepted
the rebel group on Thursday, and immediately attacked. Sapari
said that TNI personnel were still tracking down the remaining
GAM members.

Separately, Teungku Kafrawi, a local GAM spokesman, confirmed
that Ishak had been killed during the Peureulak gun battle. "Yes,
we have lost our commander," Kafrawi said briefly.

Ishak became the TNI's most wanted GAM member after he and his
group abducted a senior TV reporter, a cameraman and the wives of
two TNI personnel last year in the Peureulak area. The TV
reporter, Sory Ersa Siregar, was killed in December last year
during a clash between TNI personnel and Ishak's group. The
cameraman, Ferry Santoro, and the wives of the two TNI personnel
were finally released later after protracted negotiations between
Ishak, the TNI, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and journalists'
associations.