Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Recent killings of former
rebels-turned-politicians in Indonesia's Aceh province were not
politically motivated, the province's deputy governor said Tuesday.
Four members of the Aceh Party, the political wing of the former
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), have been killed in the past two
months by unknown assailants, sparking fears of further violence
ahead of the April 9 general elections.
The Aceh Party is one of six local parties allowed to contest for
provincial legislative seats under a 2005 peace pact between the
government and GAM, which ended decades of conflict in the province.
Aceh Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar, a former independence
supporter, said he agreed with police assertions that the killings
were not linked to politics.
'The events in recent months were purely criminal acts according
to police, so we don't see them as a big threat to peace,' Nazar told
the German Press Agency dpa.
He urged police to thoroughly investigate the murders and a series
of grenade attacks targeting Aceh Party offices since last year.
'We are optimistic that peace will prevail. All parties concerned
are committed to it,' said Nazar, who leads the Aceh People's
Independent Voice Party.
In the latest incident, a member of the Aceh Party was found
floating in a waste pool on Friday, with his throat slit and hands
bound, local media reported.
A new report by the World Bank's Conflict and Development Program
said 16 people were killed, 47 were injured and 17 buildings or
vehicles were damaged in violence in a three-month period to the end
of February.
'These incidents brought tensions, in particular between the Aceh
Party and security forces to unprecedented levels since [the peace
pact],' the report said.
However, the report said it remained unclear whether the violence
was politically motivated.
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf is a former separatist guerilla who
won the gubernatorial election in 2006, two years after the Indian
Ocean tsunami devastated Aceh province.
The International Crisis Group think tank said in a report
released Monday that the crux of the problem was 'the mutual fear and
loathing' between GAM and the Indonesian military.
Many in the military are convinced that GAM is still committed to
an independent Aceh and has only changed its tactics, the report said.
Former rebels, on the other hand, see the military as its main
opponent, and encourages the perception that all attacks on its
members or offices are somehow linked to the military, the report
said.
The Crisis Group said many attacks over the past three years had
been the result of internal conflict among former rebels.
The military has been accused of gross human rights violations
during the conflict in the province.
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