Text messages steer war from Sweden<\/p>\n
Anna Peltola, Reuters, Stockholm<\/p>\n
In a grim Stockholm suburb, a group of men meet daily to plot the
\nstrategy of a guerrilla war fought 10,000 kilometers (6,210
\nmiles) away in separatist Aceh, where Indonesia launched a
\nmilitary campaign two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
The mobile phones of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders
\nbleep as they receive text message reports from Aceh, the oil-
\nand gas-rich province on the northern tip of the Sumatra island
\nenveloped in a war after peace talks broke down.<\/p>\n
Sweden is home to GAM's top commanders headed by Mahmood
\nMalik, whom the rebels consider their prime minister, and
\nAbdullah Bakhtiar, the chief spokesman. Both were part of GAM's
\nnegotiation team at the latest unsuccessful peace talks in Japan.<\/p>\n
Bakhtiar lives with his wife, the daughter of a former GAM
\ncommander killed in battle in 1982, their two children and his
\nmother-in-law in a drab apartment complex housing mainly
\nimmigrants.<\/p>\n
He said he recently heard that his brother-in-law had been
\narrested on the island of Pulau Nasi on the northern tip of Aceh,
\nand there had since been no news of him.<\/p>\n
\"Of course this hit my mother-in-law very hard, even though
\nshe's a very strong lady,\" Bakhtiar said.<\/p>\n
Malik himself was a warrior before coming to Sweden.<\/p>\n
\"We have fought them (Jakarta) for 27 years, and we are
\nfighting for a just cause,\" he told Reuters. \"We ask for
\nindependence to rule our land. We don't want anything else from
\nIndonesia.\"<\/p>\n
Even though Aceh is staunchly Muslim, the separatists say they
\ndo not plan to build an Islamic state.<\/p>\n
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict in
\nAceh since 1976, and the separatists vow to continue the battle
\nuntil they win independence for the former Dutch colony.<\/p>\n
There are around 50 Acehnese living in Sweden. Many arrived as
\npolitical refugees in the early 1980s and are now living and
\nworking as Swedish citizens.<\/p>\n
\"We are always ready to return. Our hearts are always there.
\nBut if we were all to evacuate, the world would not know what's
\nhappening there,\" said Bakhtiar, who works for the Swedish postal
\nservice.<\/p>\n
Sultan Hasan di Tiro, whom GAM considers Aceh's head of state,
\nalso lives in Sweden but has given up day to day decision making
\nbecause of old age and poor health.<\/p>\n
Tiro, whose grandfather, great uncles and cousins died as
\nrulers of Aceh fighting the Dutch and who has written a lengthy
\nplay about its history, declared the province independent in
\n1976.<\/p>\n
From their homes in Stockholm, Malik and his men steer both
\nmilitary and political action in Aceh.<\/p>\n
GAM says it has a military commander in charge of soldiers and
\na governor handling political affairs in each district.<\/p>\n
\"Every day we receive a report from these on what is going on.
\nI monitor what is going on,\" Malik said.<\/p>\n
Even with Indonesia planning to step up its military campaign,
\nscores of people deserting the regional capital Banda Aceh and
\ninternational aid organizations warning of a looming humanitarian
\ncrisis, GAM said it had no immediate plans to return to the
\nnegotiating table with Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"What happens next depends on Indonesia and the international
\ncommunity,\" Malik said.<\/p>\n
GAM says five or six of its guerrillas have died in the latest
\ncampaign, but Indonesia says GAM casualties are much higher.<\/p>\n
The separatists say 70 civilians and hundreds of government
\nsoldiers have been killed, but there has been no visible evidence
\nor independent confirmation of this.<\/p>\n
Malik, who came to Sweden in the late 1980s, is now 63 and
\nconfident he will see Aceh independent in his lifetime.<\/p>\n
\"I think Indonesia will collapse soon,\" he said. \"The only
\nthing prolonging the process is the international help Indonesia
\nis receiving. Otherwise it would have collapsed long ago.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/text-messages-steer-war-from-sweden-1447893297",
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