 he military spokesman of the Free Acheh Movement (GAM), Sofyan Daud, urged Achenese to protest "the increasing use of brutal forces" in Acheh and plans to revive a provincial military command by launching a strike starting January 16.
"To draw the attention of the international community and to prevent barbaric actions (by security forces), we call on everybody in Acheh to go on strike," he announced.
"The behavior of the military and police in Acheh has become increasingly brutal."
He said the reestablishment of the Iskandar Muda military command, which was closed in 1985, was meant to revive harsh military operations in the
province.
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| Commander of Free Acheh Movement (GAM) Teungku Abdullah Syafei poses with his gun AK-47, during a press conference at his house at Lungputu village, Pidie. |
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"All Achenese must express their opposition to the plan to establish the military command," the rebel spokesman said.
A decade of military operations to quash rebels, which lasted through the 1990s, left thousands of people died. Security forces have been accused of gross human rights abuses.
The plan to revive the command, which was agreed during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, has drawn criticism from rights activists. They see it as an attempt by the military to reassert its territorial grip.
Daud warned that anyone who ignored the strike call would "face consequences." He did not elaborate.
Hospitals, electricity and telecommunication companies as well as the media are allowed to operate as usual.
Since 1976 and an estimated 10,000 people have been killed since then. More than 1,700 people died last year and more than 70 have been killed since the start of 2002.
On Thursday troops shot dead a man believed to be a local rebel commander in East Acheh's region of Karang Baru, said the local military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Nakir.
Aid workers said five bodies with gunshot wounds were found in three separate places in Acheh on Friday.
Jakarta last year granted Acheh greater self-rule and a larger share of oil and gas revenues. It also allowed the staunchly Muslim region on the tip of Sumatra island to implement Islamic law, or sharia.
But President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, has set her face firmly against independence.
The previous government last year declared GAM an illegal organization and sent troops to crack down on the rebels, resulting in a surge of violence.
© 2002 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
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