Malaysian police are seriously viewing the
involvement of criminal syndicates with Indonesian links in Thursday's
execution style killing of Acehnese separatist movement leader Teuku Don
Zulfahri, a news report said Saturday.

A federal police spokesman was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying that
police were investigating the involvement of foreigners living in Malaysia
who had close ties with criminals in Indonesia.

Most of these foreigners claimed to be of Acehnese descent and participated
in firearm smuggling, international drug trafficking and money laundering,
the spokesman said. The paper did not identify him.

"Crime syndicates are known to make retribution brutal and public, thus
ensuring the message is sent across loud and clear," he was quoted as saying.

The New Straits Times said that the Zulfahri, 40, had been sought by police
in connection with the seizure of high powered firearms and a large cache of
ammunition in Kuala Lumpur last December.

Five people including several foreigners were arrested and investigations
later revealed an attempt by an armed group, believed to be Acehnese, to pull
off an embassy takeover on New Year's eve, which the police foiled.

Zulfahri, who had been the secretary-general of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM),
was shot in the back of the head and left arm while having a meal at a
restaurant.

Malaysian police on Saturday continued their hunt for the killer amid a
welter of theories but few hard facts about the murder.

When news of the killing spread, confusion initially arose as to the identity
of the deceased.

This incident made international headlines when Zulfahri's wife, Singaporean
born Putri Mei Abdullah was quoted by news reports to have identified her
husband as the deceased.

Hulu Langat deputy district police chief Superintendent Azmi Hashim first
identified the body as Lokman Hashim while Federal Police identified him as
Habib Adam.

Smuggle

A spokesman in North Aceh for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Ismail Sahputra,
said Friday he believed Indonesian military intelligence agents killed
Zulfahri.

But the Berita Harian newspaper quoted sources close to the murdered man as
saying they believed leaders of the mainstream GAM ordered his killing.

The sources were quoted as saying that Zulfahri knew of attempts to kill him
and had constantly shifted from one place to another to avoid detection.

The newspaper quoted another source -- a GAM military commander in Aceh -- as
saying the movement considered Zulfahri a traitor and pro-Jakarta after he
formed his splinter group.

The source said his actions hampered efforts to secure Aceh's independence.

A source close to Malaysia's Acehnese community told AFP Friday that
Zulfahri, a 40-year-old father of two who had resident status here, called a
meeting of the community in March 1999.

After that he formed a group called the "ruling council of the Free Aceh
Movement." The source said Zulfahri was branded a traitor and became an
irritant to the main group. (JAKARTA POST)