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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian military clashes with Aceh rebels |
| 2003-05-30 |
| Settling in for the long, bloody haul... The Indonesian military has reported clashes in eight locations in Aceh (map) province as troops cornered separatist rebels in a bid to separate the guerrillas from the population. "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. Martial law administrator Endang Suwarya said one soldier and two rebels were killed in a mountainous area in Aceh Besar district in one of eight firefights that erupted Friday. At least 92 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have been killed since the start of the campaign, according to military figures. Twelve soldiers and police and 15 civilians have been killed. The military blamed most of the civilian deaths on rebels. Lieutenant Colonel Suwarya said starting on Friday foreign ships were banned from Aceh waters and any foreign vessel entering the territory would be warned to leave and be sunk if the warning was ignored. He said the move was aimed at curbing arms smuggling into Aceh. Private radio stations are also banned from broadcasting under martial law rule, Lieutenant Colonel Suwarya announced, adding that communication radios such as walkie-talkies owned by the public should by handed over to the military authorities. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Pernicious trend in the media: to report on "rebels" "separatists" or the "free aceh movement" without explaining WHY they are fighting: what's their angle? Are they simply tired of living under Indo's colonial rule or are they (as intimated once on Rantburg) Islamofascists who want to set up a Pure Islamonazi State TM? If it is the latter, we should remind others with every article as the global threat of the Islamonazi ideology (as opposed to moderate muslims who are not the problem) is stirring up trouble all around the world and needs to be dealt with. People are being kept ignorant due to fears of "white pride" style neonazi racism. These fears may be exaggerated and/or groundless but just the fear is enough in our PC culture to muzzle valid and necessary criticism. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-05-30 17:35:57 |
| #1 guerrillas separated from the civilian population = dead guys without uniforms |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-30 17:08:04 |