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