VZCZCXYZ5210
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJA #0464/01 0661004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061004Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8244
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0913
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2135
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3371
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2073
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000464 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
AIDAC 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, DS/IP/EAP, DS/DSS, INR/EAP and INL 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS AID 
USAID FOR ANE/EAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS PREL MARR ECON ASEC SOCI ID
SUBJECT: Five Suspects Arrested in Aceh ex-GAM killings 
 
REF: JAKARTA 446 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary. Five suspects were arrested on March 5 in relation 
to the March 1 killings of five ex-GAM members and injury of seven 
others during an attack on a KPA office in Central Aceh.  TQ motive 
for the attack remains unclear and the police maintain the suspects 
are not ex-militia or members of any gang group.  A key witness to 
the attack remains under KPA protection at an undisclosed location. 
Local officials have praised the swift police action while human 
rights NGOs have called for de-escalation and further investigation. 
 The situation in central Aceh remains calm, but tense. End 
Summary. 
 
Suspects Arrested 
----------------- 
¶2.  (SBU) Police arrested five suspects on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
March 4 in Atu Lintang village 30km southeast of Takengon city in 
Central Aceh.  The suspects are all civilians named Marjono(age 29), 
Ahmed Sainuddin(age 32), Giman(age 32), Musikan(age 42), and 
Humardi(age 70). Consulate Medan confirmed the names and status of 
the suspects with the Police Chief of Aceh Tengah Lt. Col. AB 
Kawedar on March 6. These suspects are now detained under close 
supervision at the Central Aceh Police Office.  Tensions in the 
village and at the site of the attack remain high. 
 
¶3.  (U) Media reports from March 6 indicate police did not initially 
publicize the arrests due to the fragile situation in the district. 
Aceh daily Serambi reported that police commanders stated they 
received instructions from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to 
conduct a clear and open investigation of the case and the police 
made the arrest public on March 5. Media reports added that a 
special team from Aceh Police Headquarters came to Central Aceh to 
support the investigation of the incident. Lt. Col. AB Kawedar would 
not speculate on motives for the crime during a conversation with 
Consulate Medan staff on March 6. 
 
Motives Unclear 
--------------- 
¶4.  (U) The break in the case, according to police, came when 
suspect Musikan, who is also a local village chief, provided further 
information to investigators that lead to the arrest and detention 
of the remaining four suspects.  According to local authorities all 
of the suspects were born in Aceh.  Police also conducted a 
reconstruction of the crime with one of the injured victims from the 
March 1 attack.  Police claim that the initial results of the 
investigation indicate all of the suspects are civilians acting of 
their own volition and initiative.  They have denied any links to 
militias or any organization backing them in their actions.  Police 
publicly maintain that a motive for the attacks is still unknown. 
 
Reaction by KPA and Others 
-------------------------- 
¶5.  (U) Head of the KPA in Central Aceh, Ramdana, urged in a March 6 
media statement that people not to be provoked by the incident, 
including a rumor subsequently disproved of the finding of 3 more 
dead bodies in Bur Lintang (10km from Atu Lintang). Ramdana assured 
the media on March 6 that all KPA members remain in their villages; 
however they remain alert because of this incident.  A key witness 
who escaped the KPA office attack on March 1 is currently being 
"protected" by the KPA at an undisclosed location, according to both 
media reports and sources close to the KPA. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Faudi Soni, head of the Aceh Post-Conflict Reintegration 
Body (BRA) in the city of Bireun and a source close to the KPA, told 
Consulate Medan staff on March 6 that in fact the Takengon bus 
station issue had been resolved on the evening of February 29 
(reftel).  After the attack on the KPA station in the early morning 
of March 1, however, Soni added KPA members were fearful the 
killings were instigated by those seeking to destabilize the 
province.  Soni did not support a direct linkage between the 
struggle over control of the Takengon bus terminal and the March 1 
attacks. 
 
¶7.  (U) The Head of the Aceh Provincial Peace Coordination and 
Communication Forum (FKK), Zainal Arifin, and the Provincial BRA 
Head, Nur Djuli, both praised the police in the media on March 6 for 
their quick action in detaining the suspects. Arifin added that he 
would bring this incident up in the FKK in order to follow up on the 
effect of the killings on the peace process and general stability in 
Aceh.  Human rights NGOs in Aceh stressed that the local government 
and the authorities should take steps to ensure the de-escalation of 
the situation. Mr. Aziah, representing local NGO Kontras, also 
called on the Indonesian National Committee for Human Rights to 
investigate the recent violence. 
 
 
Hume