Separatist rebels have kidnapped nine athletes and officials taking part in the largest sporting event in Indonesia’s Aceh province, the military said on Thursday.
The nine were abducted at Peureulak in East Aceh on Wednesday when they were returning after taking part in the Aceh Games, said provincial military representative Zaenal Muttaqin, quoted by the
official Antara news agency.
Muttaqin blamed the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
He quoted the driver of the vehicle carrying the athletes as saying they were intercepted by some 20 armed men. The driver was gagged with sticky tape before the group drove away with the vehicle and the nine athletes.
GAM has carried out a series of abductions of civilians in the province but most victims have been released unharmed.
Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday he did not rule out imposing a state of military emergency to end the long-running separatist revolt.
Yudhoyono told reporters the government’s policy on Aceh was reviewed periodically and ”everything is possible”.
But he said the current policy, which included a peace dialogue, could not yet be deemed to have failed.
Yudhoyono said the government could always adjust its current ”security restoration operation” in Aceh. The operation, launched under then-president Abdurrahman Wahid in April last year, involves the use of troops and police from outside the province against GAM, which has been fighting for independence since 1976.
Also last year, Jakarta granted special autonomy to Aceh, allowing it to partially implement Sharia law and retain a much greater share of its oil and gas revenues.
More than 10 000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the Aceh conflict, including over 600 this year alone. – Sapa-AFP