Prosecutor drops case against Hasan Tiro

Prosecutor drops case against Hasan Tiro

Associated Press, Stockholm

A Swedish prosecutor has dropped an investigation of the exiled
leader of the Aceh rebel movement, saying the aging Hasan Tiro no
longer controls the group, news reports said on Sunday.

Tiro, 80, and two other exiled leaders of the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) are accused by Indonesia of staging
assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.

Prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand told newspaper Dagens Nyheter that
Tiro's "executive capacity" was limited because of his ill
health. Malik Mahmud, 64, and Zaini Abdullah, 63, are still being
investigated, Lindstrand said. All three live in exile in Sweden.

Chief Prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand was not reachable for a
comment but a spokesman for Tiro confirmed the report.

"He looks very positive on the decision," Muhammad Hussin
Siarif told The Associated Press.

Indonesia's government asked Sweden to investigate the three
leaders, saying they were behind a September 2000 blast at the
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) that killed 15 people, as well as
several other bombings, two assassinations, six arson attacks at
schools and 243 kidnappings.

The Free Aceh Movement has denied the accusations, saying its
actions are confined to the province of 4.1 million people on the
northern tip of Sumatra Island.

All three men are Swedish citizens and cannot be extradited.

The Acehnese have been fighting for independence on-and-off
since the 1870s, when their homeland was invaded by Dutch troops
and incorporated into their East Indies colony, which in 1945
gained independence as Indonesia.

The latest round of fighting began in 1976. More than 12,000
people have died in the province in the past decade.