Nivell Rayda – The State Intelligence Agency, or BIN, assured the House of Representatives on Wednesday that there were no known threats that could disrupt the April 9 legislative elections or the presidential election in July.

Agency head Syamsir Siregar said after a closed hearing with the House's Commission I, which oversees defense and security, that political friction among competing parties would be inevitable, but was unlikely to disturb the elections.

"From the intelligence that we have gathered, no group poses any threat nor will there be any turmoil in disputes over the election results," Syamsir told reporters.

He said there had been some intimidation and criminal behavior meant to coerce civilians into voting for a specific party in Aceh Province. However, Syamsir said he had assured the House that such incidents had been isolated and sporadic and would not upset the elections as a whole.

"It's regional and would not pose any threat to national security," he said. "These matters are being handled by the local police. We don't see any potential that the threat could escalate to a national level."

Under a 2005 peace agreement between the government and the now-defunct Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, the province secured the right to form local political parties.

Six such parties are eligible to contest the April polls, including the Aceh Party, which was founded by former GAM rebels. Earlier this month, two Aceh Party politicians were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen, and a grenade rocked one of the party's regional offices.

Since last year, a number of grenades have been thrown at the party's headquarters, but the police have yet to determine a motive for the attacks.

Yuddy Chrisnandi, a lawmaker with the Golkar Party, said the House commission had accepted the intelligence report from the agency. "We are confident about the details given to us by the head of BIN," Yuddy said. "If there were any threats, BIN would immediately alert Commission I."

"Of course, House Commission I will make its own assessment of security during both elections. But we are certain that our assessment won't be any different."