4 Dec 1999
SHOOTING MARKS REBEL PROTEST IN INDONESIA'S ACEH
By Amy Chew
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia,
Dec 4 (Reuters) -
Indonesian security forces fired on pro-independence protesters on Saturday in the
rebellious province of Aceh, wounding at least
seven people, witnesses and hospital sources
said.
The military denied that they had fired, pinning
the blame on separatist rebels.
Analysts say the future of Indonesia as a country
rests on Aceh and whether its battered
population can be tempted into accepting greater
autonomy rather than independence which many
fear would trigger disintegration of the vast
archipelago.
The protesters, marking the 23rd anniversary of
the Free Aceh rebel movement, were shot after
they shouted abuse and slogans in front of the
military district headquarters in the town of Sigli,
about 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.
"If it had been us, there would have more victims
than that," local military district commander,
Liutenant Colonel Iskandar Sahil, said by phone.
He said police had been negotiating with
protesters when suddenly rebels appeared out of
the crowd and began shooting, wounding two
people.
Local residents said the troops had done the
shooting. Hospital sources said seven people
were being treated for bullet wounds, but no one
was seriously hurt.
After the shooting, security forces patrolled the
streets which were quiet, with all shops closed.
One journalist said soldiers pointed guns at cars
carrying reporters, quoting one as shouting; "You
guys are dogs."
In some areas, security forces took down
thousands of illegal rebel flags and there was an
unconfirmed report that a youth had been shot in
the leg elsewhere in the province.
MOSTLY QUIET AREBEL ANNIVERSARY
Otherwise, it was a mostly peaceful celebration of
the rebel anniversary in this fiercely independent
province, where demands have been increasing
to break from what is seen as mostly brutal and
plundering Jakarta rule.
"There isn't a single vehicle in town. The
situation is very tense, there's not even a
mosquito," said a local journalist in
Lhokseumawe, a hotbed of rebel activity.
The east coast town is also the site of a huge
natural gas operation, operated by the U.S. oil
giant Mobil Corp, which accounts for a fifth of
Indonesia's oil and gas export earnings.
The plant, starting in the mid-1970s, provided the
spark that established the Free Aceh guerrilla
movement, which argued that nearly all the
wealth it generated was being siphoned off by
Jakarta with barely any spent on Aceh itself.
Even now, government figures show that about a
quarter of the roughly four million Acehnese live
on or below the poverty line.
Much of the support for independence has
followed years of brutal repression by the military
during a nine-year campaign against rebels in
which at least 2,000 people are thought to have
died and many more were raped and tortured.
MANY FLED BEFORE ANNIVERSARY
Thousands of people, mainly immigrants from
other parts of Indonesia, fled the province in the
run-up to Saturday's anniversary, fearing
violence would erupt.
On Friday, President Abdurrahman Wahid warned
that the government was prepared to use force,
saying calls for an independent Islamic kingdom
were unacceptable.
"We will use repressive forces if we are
challenged," he said during a trip to Beijing. He
returned to Jakarta on Saturday.
Wahid has offered the staunchly Moslem
Acehnese a referendum next year on the
introduction of sharia law, but says a vote on
independence is out of the question.
Demands for independence around the
archipelago have grown since Jakarta let East
Timor vote to break away in August.
Analysts warn that were Aceh to go, Indonesia --
made up of 17,000 islands and grouping
hundreds of different languages and ethnic
groups -- would unravel, probably violently.
In Pantai Bahagia, near Lhokseumawe, about 300
well-armed Free Aceh rebels raised their flag to
shouts of "Freedom!" and "God is Great!"
"This is the biggest ever celebration of our
anniversary. We reject autonomy or federalism...
We will fight until we get independence," deputy
rebel commander Zakaria Ahmad told reporters.
Flags flew along the nearby village roads and
local children shouted "Freedom!" as rebels
passed by.
All along the 400-km (250-mile) highway from the
provincial capital Banda Aceh to Lhokseumawe,
pro-independence sympathisers had painted the
red, white and black colours of the Free Aceh flag
on doorways, electric poles, bridges and tree
trunks.
Along one stretch a huge banner had been hung,
reading: "Goodbye Indonesia, Aceh Will Be
Independent."
Source:
http://www.alertnet.org/alertnet.nsf/a508d7319b8f83e38525648200010703/8525679b0071141c8525683d0060f257?OpenDocument
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