9 Slain in Aceh After Wahid Visit

A day after a visit by Indonesia’s president aimed at easing tensions between rebels and the military, nine people were killed Wednesday in a rash of shootings in troubled Aceh province.

A separatist leader warned of civil war if a fragile six-month cease-fire that expires next month is not renewed. “There will be war. It will get much worse,” separatist Zaini Abdullah said by telephone from Stockholm, where he and other rebel leaders are living in exile.

Indonesian Defense Minister Mohammad Mahfud said Wednesday that peace talks would end after the cease-fire expires Jan. 15.

“From that time on, there will be no more direct negotiations with the rebels, but if they like, they can take part in talks between the government and Acehnese leaders,” he said.

Rebels in Aceh have been fighting for independence from Indonesia for 25 years. President Abdurrahman Wahid, seeking to quell the violence, stopped briefly Tuesday in Aceh, about 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta, the capital. He called on troops to stop attacking Acehnese civilians and urged the rebels not to abandon the peace process.

Within hours, nine people were slain in three shootings--seven civilians, a police officer and a rebel fighter, said Aceh police Supt. Yatim Suyatmo. Guerrillas gunned down the officer as he shopped at a market, and the rebel was shot later in the same area, Suyatmo said.

At least 441 people have been killed since the cease-fire took effect in June. Each side accuses the other of breaking the truce.

Earlier, the government confirmed that Wahid would push ahead with his campaign against violent separatism by visiting Irian Jaya, another restive province, at Christmas.

At least 19 people have been killed in clashes in the eastern province this month. Unlike much of Indonesia, 90% of whose people are Muslim, most indigenous Irianese are Christian.