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TITLE: Three Dead as Rebels and Troops Resume Talks |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: AFP |
DATE: February 23, 2001 |
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Three people were killed, one tortured and another beheaded, as Indonesian authorities and separatist rebels resumed peace talks in the restive province of Aceh on Friday, sources and residents said.The body of Abdurrahman (eds: one name), the chief of Alue Pisang village in South Aceh, was discovered by residents in a garbage dump on Thursday afternoon, South Aceh police chief Ali Husein said. The victim's body bore torture marks and gunshot wounds, Doctor Yulidin Away from the state hospital in the main town of Tapaktuan said. In the Kluet Selatan sub-district in South Aceh residents found the headless body of a man floating on the Kandang river Thursday, a local journalist told AFP. In East Aceh, Lauddin Hasan, the body of a resident of Blang Paseh village, was found lying on a sidewalk. He had been shot dead by unknown gunmen late Thursday, residents said. The violence occurred as Indonesian police and military personnel held "delicate" talks with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerillas late into Thursday night, and started again Friday morning, a source close to the talks said Friday."Both sides resumed their talks earlier this morning and hopefully an agreement will be reached soon," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Friday's talks involved three deputy operational commanders from the GAM, which has been waging a guerrilla war against Jakarta's rule since the mid-1970's, two Indonesian military officers from North Aceh, and the chief detective of Banda Aceh police, the source added. On Thursday, GAM spokesman Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki said the agenda of the talks included a discussion on details of a security pact agreed on by Jakarta and GAM last week after two days of talks at a secret location in Switzerland. The pact, details of which have yet to be released, is designed to replace a month-long ceasefire in the troubled resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island which expired on February 15. "One of the things agreed in Switzerland on the security field is that both sides will intensify dialogues among commanders at the district level," Amni told AFP. A spokesman for the government side, police Chief Commissioner Ridhwan Karim, said Thursday the pact would allow the two warring sides to widen dialogue by involving other elements of Aceh's population."The dialogue will be some kind of a popular consultation of Acehnese and the GAM has expressed willingness to take part," Karim told AFP. More than 180 people have been killed in Aceh this year, according to Aceh's Care Human Rights Forum.Jakarta has ruled out independence for Aceh and pledged autonomy instead. END |