Indonesia's former rebel leader to return to homeland
6/10/2008 16:44
Muhamad Hasan Di Tiro, a former chief of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
rebel group in Indonesia, will return to his homeland on Oct. 11 for the first
time after he left 30 years ago, The Jakarta Post reported.
"His return has
nothing to do with politics," said Suadi Sulaiman, a spokesperson for the then
GAM council. "He has been missing his homeland Indonesia very much, in
particular Aceh."
Hasan planned to spend between two weeks and one month in
Aceh. He was invited by the Aceh government and legislative council, aimed at
boosting peace in the province, which was engulfed in armed conflict for
decades.
The Indonesian government and Aceh rebels signed a peace pact in
Helsinki more than three years ago. Before that, Hasan led the fight against
Indonesian rule from his base in Sweden as a Swedish national.
Hasan arrived
in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and had met with several former leaders of the GAM,
said an activist quoted by Indonesia's official news agency Antara
yesterday.
The source also said that Hasan will stay in the city for several
days to meet representatives of the Indonesian government and then be taken to
Jakarta before being flown to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, his home town.
But
whether or not Hasan would fly to Jakarta first before heading to Aceh will
depend on Jakarta's lobby.
Xinhua
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