Grenade Hits Office Of Former Indonesian Rebels

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA: Unidentified assailants threw a grenade at the office of a political party set up by former rebels in Aceh province, shattering windows and destroying computers but causing no injuries, police said Wednesday (17 Sept).The pre-dawn blast in Bireun, a remote town 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) from the capital Jakarta, was the latest in a string of politically charged attacks ahead of next year's parliamentary and provincial elections.

Aceh has been relatively quiet since the government signed a peace deal with separatists in 2005, ending a 29-year rebellion that left more than 15,000 people dead.

But tensions are building between the military, which is worried ex-rebels will win control of local legislatures and challenge Jakarta's authority, and the former separatists who are afraid the government will try to intervene in the election process.

Police spokesman Lt. Colonel Ahmad Saleh said a witness told authorities two motorcycles stopped outside the Aceh Party office shortly before Wednesday's explosion, but that the investigation was still ongoing.

Another of the party's offices was torched Tuesday (16 Sept) and the residence of a party official was struck by a grenade last month, said Adnan Beuransah, a spokesman for the party, calling it "part of efforts to sabotage the upcoming polls." (AP/Fakhrurradzie Gade, The Associated Press stringer in Banda Aceh contributed to this report.)

Posted in: Associated Press