Exiled GAM leader returns to Aceh

Exiled GAM leader returns to Aceh

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

In another positive sign for the peace process in Aceh, a top
leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) arrived in his homeland on
Monday after 25 years in exile overseas after a peace deal
succeeded in ending nearly three decades of conflict in the
province.

Bakhtiar Abdullah, the leading spokesman for the GAM
leadership in Sweden, landed in the provincial capital of Banda
Aceh on a commercial plane accompanied by GAM activist Munawar
Zain.

Bakhtiar, who was also a key negotiator in the peace deal
signed on Aug. 15 in Finland by the GAM and the Indonesian
government, said he would stay in Aceh for the next two months to
monitor the situation on the ground.

"I am here to see how far we have gone. I want to help friends
in the field who have been implementing the memorandum of
understanding," he told a press conference upon his arrival,
referring to the peace agreement.

Asked to comment on the peace process, Bakhtiar said "it has
run smoothly, including the weapons decommissioning... It's
beyond our expectations".

GAM has surrendered hundreds of weapons to international peace
monitors as part of the peace accord, while the government has
pulled thousands of troops out of Aceh.

Bakhtiar said that he was at a loss for words after arriving
in Aceh. "I don't know how to describe my feelings upon returning
to my homeland Aceh. I am moved," said Bakhtiar who is still a
Swedish citizen.

He is the first official of the exiled GAM leadership in
Sweden to return home. It remains unclear whether or when the
group's other top leaders -- Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmud, and Zaini
Abdullah would follow suit.

Bakhtiar's return is seen as another sign that the peace
process is on track.

"The peace process is generally going pretty well, and both
sides seem to be sticking by the agreement," Damien Kingsbury, an
Australian academic who serves as an adviser to GAM, told AP on
Monday.

"It may even have passed the point of no return."

Speaking from Melbourne, he dismissed doubts about Bakhtiar's
safety in Aceh.

"It's a necessary step because if he didn't go it would be
destabilizing and would show a lack of confidence in the peace
process," said Kingsbury, who is banned from visiting Aceh.

Bakhtiar has been touted as a strong GAM candidate to contest
a gubernatorial election in Aceh next year. Asked if he would run
in the election, he laughed and said: "Later. Later".

The possible nomination of Bakhtiar was denied by his
colleagues.

"He (Bakhtiar) is still a Swedish citizen, so it's impossible
for him to become a governor. Moreover, GAM has yet to decide
whether to contest the election or not," a local GAM leader said.

The peace agreement allows GAM to reinvent itself as a local
political party to participate in local elections in Aceh.

The accord, which is being supervised by a mission consisting
of 250 monitors from the European Union and Southeast Asian
countries, also calls for the gradual reintegration of the
separatists -- previously banned under Indonesia's draconian
internal security laws -- into political life.

Their candidates will be allowed to take part in
gubernatorial, municipal and regental elections scheduled for
next year, and in the next general elections in 2009.

Although the disengagement process has proceeded relatively
smoothly, the level of mistrust remains high.