VZCZCXRO3611
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0196/01 0361052
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051052Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1395
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1137
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0941
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3575
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3473
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2101
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000196 
 
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 PREL ASEC SOCI ID
SUBJECT: ACEH PRE-ELECTION VIOLENCE ESCALATES 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary. Two shootings in as many days have killed two 
members of the Aceh Transition Committee (KPA - the successor 
organization to the GAM separatist movement) and injured a third on 
the night of February 3 and the afternoon of February 4. The 
shootings follow in the wake of an attempted grenade attack on the 
Mayor of Sabang on February 1, an attack on the Aceh Party (PA) 
office in North Aceh on January 26, and other incidents including a 
grenade attack on the Golkar Party office in Bireun on January 22. 
Taken together the incidents are creating serious concern among 
political parties and political observers in Aceh. End Summary. 
 
KPA Members Shot in Multiple Attacks 
------------------------------------ 
¶2.  (SBU) On the night of February 3 the Party Secretary of the KPA 
in Bireuen District, a popular ex-GAM leader known as Abu Karim, was 
shot and killed at close range while in his car. Commentators in 
Aceh suspect that the killing could have been the result of a 
business dispute. Wira Atmadinata, who heads the Political Party 
Communication Forum in Aceh told Consulate Medan on February 5 that 
he believes the KPA and Aceh Party in Bireun are at loggerheads over 
profits from local construction contracts and that this was what 
lead to the killing. Police are investigating the case and 
attempting to determine motives and suspects in the case. Governor 
Irwandi Yusuf attended Karim's funeral. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) During midday February 4 two KPA members riding in their 
car in Greater Aceh District were shot at by two assailants riding a 
motorbike. One was killed and the other critically wounded in the 
attack. Media sources claim that the two ex-GAM members were 
involved in the planning and program of the October, 2008 return of 
Hasan di Tiro to Aceh. The attacks created frustration and anger 
among KPA leaders. Ibrahim KBS, KPA Spokesperson, told media on 
February 4, "If the police are no longer able to handle the 
situation in Aceh, then all parties that support the peace must ask 
and demand the International world to immediately take real action 
in Aceh in order to save the peace." 
 
Grenade Placed under ex-GAM Mayor's Car 
--------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) On February 1 a grenade wrapped in a plastic bag was found 
under the wheel of the car of Munawar Liza, the ex-GAM Mayor of 
Sabang City on the island of Weh just north of Banda Aceh. In the 
weeks prior to the attempted attack there had been a series of 
protests in Sabang, directed at the Mayor, complaining of the lack 
of development in the city. The grenade failed to detonate and 
police believe it was of Korean origin. Mayor Liza described the 
grenade to Consulate Medan as a crude time bomb. The pin had been 
removed and a rubber band was affixed around the grenade. A 
corrosive oily substance had been dripped on the grenade and was 
slowly eating away at the elastic. Both the Mayor and Vice Mayor 
accuse the Indonesian military of ginning up the demonstrations. 
Police are investigating the case but no motive or suspects have 
been identified. 
 
Attacks on Political Party Offices 
---------------------------------- 
¶5.  (SBU) Overt attacks on political party offices in Aceh continue 
and at 3:15AM on February 4 the Aceh Party Office in Langsa City was 
attacked by unknown assailants observed in a car and on a motorbike 
who detonated a grenade at the PA Office and fled. Police in Langsa 
told the media on February 5 that they had invited a forensic team 
from Medan to come to Langsa and analyze the crime scene. At 3:15AM 
on January 26 the office of the Aceh Party in North Aceh was 
attacked by a group of assailants driving a car who opened fire on 
the office. A watchmen at the scene told media that a rifle was used 
to fire four shots at the office and that the vehicle headed towards 
East Aceh as it sped off.  Police recovered a spent rifle round and 
are investigating the case. The shooting was a departure from the 
usual modus operandi from previous weeks of detonating a grenade 
late at night or early in the morning at a party office while the 
office is unoccupied. A grenade was also detonated at the Golkar 
Party office in Bireun at 4:45AM on January 22. Police are still 
interviewing witnesses and gathering information in that case. 
 
KPA and Party Aceh Frustration 
------------------------------ 
 
JAKARTA 00000196  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Party Aceh Spokesperson Adnan Beuransyah told Consulate 
Medan on February 5 that he believed the attack on PA offices and 
the recent killings served to frighten PA members and were intended 
to erode support for PA. He added that PA regretted the incidents as 
a black mark on the peace process and added that PA guarantees its 
respect for the 2005 Helsinki MoU and the territorial integrity of 
Indonesia. He added that both he and KPA leaders are convinced that 
the Indonesian military are behind the incidents. Adnan added that 
the military is still unwilling to accept its neutral role and gave 
an example of a local PA meeting he claimed was broken up by the 
military in Pidie district on the evening of February 4. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The recent spate of attacks and attempted attacks raise 
concerns regarding the overall trend of violence in Aceh prior to 
the April, 2009 legislative elections. The recent increases in armed 
attacks are of particular concern.  The shooting attack on the PA 
office in North Aceh on January 26 also represents a departure from 
recent practice. 
 
HUME