ACEH DESCENDS INTO CHAOS

As usual, civilians are caught in the middle. Yunidar was riding a bus home recently when it was stopped by members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) looking for Javanese. They set the bus on fire, though the Acehnese passengers were free to go. But an army patrol grabbed them and accused the passengers of being GAM activists. Yunidar was ordered to report to police every week, but he fled to Jakarta. "I don't want to go back to Banda Aceh," he says. "I will be thrown in jail again and tortured since I am ignoring police instructions." Yunidar is lucky. An estimated 130,000 people have fled their homes to escape the violence but few have the means to get out of Aceh. Instead they are bedding down in mosques, schools and open-air camps. "People cannot stand the terror, particularly from the police," says a worker for a local group helping the refugees. Overcrowding, poor sanitation and the lack of food and medicine are taking their toll. Aisya, 23, a recent mother, saw her baby die from fever and diarrhea three days after birth. "It must be better for the baby to die," she says, "since we could not look after her properly."

In the worst recent incident, over 50 people were shot by troops last month. Bantaqiah, the head of a religious school in Beutong Ateuh, West Aceh, was leading a prayer class when somebody shouted to him to come outside. Eyewitnesses say a group of men wearing police uniforms entered his front yard and immediately started firing. As Bantaqiah fell, one of his sons ran to him, only to be killed by a grenade. The preacher's students were then ordered outside, lined up, and killed. Police say the deaths were the result of an armed clash. "We were informed that the prayer group was a part of GAM and had weapons," said a police official, adding that at least four guns, 100 knives, 100 bullets and a two-way radio were found at the site. GAM says Bantaqiah was not a member. Friends say the preacher supported Golkar, the ruling party. While he was jailed in 1993, that was for growing marijuana, an ingredient of Acehnese cooking, and he was released recently. "He never did anything other than pray since he came back," says a friend.

Why the military is ratcheting up the pressure now is not clear. While the army waged a brutal nine-year campaign against separatist rebels in Aceh, killing as many as 2,000, that officially ended one year ago following the fall of president Suharto. In March, current President B.J. Habibie apologized for past atrocities. Then in May, soldiers shot into a crowd in Lhokseumawe, home to the huge Arun gas field, afterwards saying that they had come under fire. Over 40 people died, and the toll has gone up from there. GAM says it is not the one upping the ante, arguing that violence would harm its effort to build public support (although it seems to have used strong-arm tactics to press for a boycott of June's parliamentary elections). Amnesty International recently accused GAM of killing soldiers and civilians. But the human-rights group reserved its strongest criticism for the military, which it accused of arbitrary arrests, disappearances and murders.

There is speculation that the violence is due to a power struggle within the military, or is a ploy to cover up its illegal business activity, or is simply a bid to maintain its influence. "The military has to justify its existence," says a local journalist with close ties to the army. "If Indonesia loses East Timor, it will still need a rebel group to fight so it can maintain its position in the political sphere." A lack of political direction from Jakarta also is allowing events to spin out of control. The only thing that seems certain is that the violence will get worse. A two-day general strike last week by residents angry about military oppression brought the province to a virtual standstill. Also last week, na-tional police chief Rusmanhadi announced the start of a six-month operation involving over 6,000 police and auxiliaries to crush the rebels. Ominously, he also gave police authority to shoot on sight: "I order that those whose identities aren't clear and are armed, shoot them." Aceh is now "nothing better than Kosovo," says Ghazali Abbas, a parliamentarian from the province. And as in Kosovo, ordinary people are the ones in the line of fire.

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner

---

TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state

---

ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness

---

Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN