Indonesian troops cornering Aceh rebels

News, May 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info

(AFP), Khaleej Times, 30 May 2003

BANDA ACEH - Indonesian security forces were cornering separatist rebels in Aceh province on Friday in a bid to separate the guerrillas from the population, the military said.

“We are mounting pressure on the rebel strongholds to narrow their room for movement and trying to separate the rebels from civilians,” said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki.

The military has admitted that troops are facing difficulties confronting highly-mobile guerrillas who melt into the population.

Armed forces chief Endriartono Sutarto has said that troops are expected to be able to separate the rebels and the general population in two months.

Basuki said armed contacts were still taking place in several locations but did not give details.

“The hunt for GAM rebels is being intensified,” he said.

At least 90 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have been killed since the start of the major military campaign to root out separatists on May 19, the military spokesman said.

Twelve soldiers and police and 15 civilians have been killed, he said adding that most of the civilians were killed by the rebels.

Up to 40,000 police and soldiers are confronting an estimated 5,000 rebels from GAM, which has been fighting for an independent state since 1976. Some 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past 27 years.

The operation was launched after talks with rebels broke down.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday said he was “deeply concerned” about the impact on the civilian population of renewed hostilities in Aceh.

“In particular, he is disturbed by reports of extra-judicial killings and widespread burning of schools” in the province in the far west of the island of Sumatra, his deputy spokeswokman, Hua Jiang, said.

Annan, she said, “urges all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to protect civilians in armed conflict.”

The secretary general also called on Indonesia’s government to ”ensure the necessary security conditions to allow international aid organizations safe and unhindered access to affected populations.”

The military, which has a record of serious rights abuses during past military operations in Aceh, has promised it would try to spare civilians this time.

It vehemently denies claims by some villagers that troops killed several civilians during the first week of the operation.

Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed GAM governor on Sabang island, Abdul Muthalib, said he had surrendered to the Indonesian military.

“I surrender because GAM’s struggle has deviated too far from truth. GAM has engaged in kidnapping, robberies, murders and burning schools,” he told reporters as he arrived in the Acehnese capital, Banda Aceh, after being flown by helicopter from the island on Thursday.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info