S. Maluku's leader dies

S. Maluku's leader dies

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP): Johan Manusama, former president of the Free Republic of South Maluku, has died in a Rotterdam hospital, his family said Friday. He was 85.

Manusama, whose self-declared government claimed independence for the southern part of Indonesia's Maluku islands, was admitted to hospital on Wednesday after falling seriously ill, the relatives said.

An engineer by training, he was president from 1966 to 1993 of the Free Republic of South Maluku, which was proclaimed in 1950, a few months after Indonesia won independence from Dutch colonial rule.

The South Maluku movement remains active. Last April, its younger members in the Netherlands rioted near the Indonesian embassy in The Hague, resulting in damages to several houses and vehicles.

Their cause made world headlines in 1975 and 1977 when South Maluku's extremists took hostages on Dutch passenger trains. In both instances, Manusama -- who opposed violence -- acted as a mediator.