Banda Aceh, – A provincial legislator and five other civilians have been killed in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Sunday.

Zaini Sulaiman, 43, a legislator of the Muslim-based United Development Party in the Aceh provincial parliament, was gunned down late Saturday at his home in Meusara Agung, some five kilometres (three miles) south of Banda Aceh, a witness said.

The witness, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said several men had knocked on the door of Sulaiman's house at around 7pm. One of them had started shooting when the legislator opened the door.

Aceh police spokesman Commissioner Sudarsono blamed the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for the killing. "The reason is the victim was recently abducted by the GAM and taken to their headquarters for several days. The movement had asked him to suspend the activity of the provincial parliament because it did not represent the aspiration developing in the society in Aceh," Sudarsono said.

But GAM spokesman Ayah Sofyan denied the charge. "Our enemies are the military and the police of Indonesia, not Aceh civilians," Sofyan said.

In another incident, three refugees from the Central Aceh district were Saturday found dead with gunshot wounds in Matangkuli, North Aceh, residents said. Residents, quoted by a local journalist, said the three had been arrested the previous day in a sweep operation by the Indonesian armed forces.

The three were among 234 refugees from Central Aceh who had sought refuge in Paya Bakong, North Aceh, since July 3. They had fled violence in their village by alleged pro-Indonesian militias there. Deputy GAM commander for North Aceh, Sofyan Daud, claimed the military had shot the three on suspicion they were rebels.

Also in North Aceh, a civilian was shot dead by security forces during a sweep operation in Matangkuli on Saturday, the journalist said. He was shot as he ran away upon seeing soldiers entering the village, he added.

In the district of Bireun, villagers in Gandapura found the body of a man with a gunshot wound in the head on Saturday, a local humanitarian activist said. The activist said the victim had been abducted along with a younger brother by unidentified men on Friday. The whereabouts of the brother was unknown.

The GAM has been fighting for an independent sultanate for 25 years in Aceh, a resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Violence in Aceh has claimed more than 1,200 lives this year alone.