RI to post ambassador

RI to post ambassador in Sweden again

JAKARTA: Indonesia said on Thursday it would again post an ambassador in Sweden after leaving the job vacant for a year to protest Stockholm's failure to take action against exiled Aceh separatists.

The move to normalize diplomatic ties follows the signing of a peace pact between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August in Helsinki, ending a nearly three- decade separatist insurgency in the tsunami-ravaged province.

The process of selecting of a new ambassador to Sweden will take several months, foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said.

"We have to submit names to parliament first," he said.

Indonesia had in the past repeatedly urged the Swedish government to take action against exiled GAM leaders who hold Swedish citizenship, accusing them of directing a campaign of killings and kidnappings in Indonesia.

In response to the pressure, Swedish prosecutors last year raided the homes of three GAM leaders -- self-styled "prime minister" Malik Mahmud, "foreign minister" Zaini Abdullah and co- founder Hasan di Tiro.

But they closed the case against Di Tiro a month later, citing his ailing health and in April dropped the investigation into Abdullah and Mahmud owing to a lack of evidence. --AFP