Troops needed to quell Aceh rebels: Wiranto

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto dismissed again on Tuesday mounting calls that he pull out troops from troubled Aceh, saying their presence was needed to crush insurgency there.

He hinted it was the rebels and not his troops that should be blamed for the prolonged terror and widespread killings there.

"There are illegal and unlawful armed powers. Their activities have become an insurgence. We must take measures (to ensure) they surrender their weapons to security forces," he said after attending a meeting of the Council for the Enforcement of Security and Law at the Bina Graha presidential office.

Separately, Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the military chief of territorial affairs, said in Sumedang, West Java, that military presence alone would not resolve the situation in the province. He said he hoped that national leaders would work to find a political solution for the province.

Wiranto conceded that many Acehnese had become victims of clashes between his troops and the rebels, and promised that the Indonesian Military would consult with local authorities and community leaders before launching military operations.

Meanwhile, in Banda Aceh, the military has maintained that the killing of 31 civilians and the injuring of 10 others in West Aceh last Friday was in self-defense and involved officers are ready to face trial.

Commander of the Teuku Umar military resort Col. CZI Syarifuddin Tippe told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday the operation was a success in terms of the targeted leader and evidence gathered in the incident in Beutong Ateuh.

"We will continue operations" against separatists, he said at his office.

Regarding allegations that the shooting was a massacre, Syarifuddin stood by his subordinates' reports.

"Lt. Col. Sudjono (the concerned operation commander), told me this morning by phone from Lhokseumawe that he was ready to face trial," he said. His men were forced to open fire as "less than 30" soldiers faced a crowd of some 70 people, he said. The remainder of the platoon and the rest of the soldiers, divided into two other units, were guarding the surroundings.

"We can still face machetes but there were guns, too," he said. (43/anr/prb)