Suspected rebels shoot Indonesian MP dead

Suspected rebels in camouflage uniforms shot and killed a local parliamentarian in the doorway of his house in Indonesia's troubled…

Suspected rebels in camouflage uniforms shot and killed a local parliamentarian in the doorway of his house in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, police said today.

Mr Taslim Jalil, from the Muslim-oriented Star and Crescent party, was shot at least five times early this morning in Lamlhon village near the provincial capital Banda Aceh, 1,060 miles northeast of Jakarta.

"Two men in camouflage uniforms went into his house asking for a drink. Then they left the house and one of them shot him in the doorway," police official Mr Djunaedi said.

"We are still investigating the matter but we suspect the rebels were behind the shooting because of the type of rifles used."

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The staunchly Muslim province on the northern tip of Sumatra island has been racked by violence despite several rounds of peacetalks and cease-fires in recent years.

Indonesia's leading English daily, The Jakarta Post, today said Mr Taslim was the tenth parliamentarian killed in Aceh in the past two years.

Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, fighting for an independent state for decades, were not immediately available for comment.

Last month, Indonesia said it had moved closer to ending the bloodshed after a meeting between both sides in Geneva agreed that an autonomy package offered by Jakarta could be the best way forward.

The International Crisis Group (CGI), a Brussels-based think-tank, estimated up to 2,000 people were killed in the Aceh conflict last year.