Aceh’s Hasan Tiro arrives in Kuala Lumpur

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 10/05/2008 3:01 PM | National

Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader Muhamad Hasan Di Tiro arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday where he met with several former GAM leaders, an activist said.

"The latest news we have is that he is staying at the home of the Swedish ambassador to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur," a representative from an Aceh-based NGO, Sahdan, said Sunday as quoted by Antara state news agency.

Sahdan and several reporters from Aceh were in Kuala Lumpur to meet and interview Hasan, but lost trace of him.

"He could possibly be staying at the Concorde hotel in Kuala Lumpur, or at the Vistana hotel in Klang, Selangor, where the GAM leaders held a meeting ... but the latest rumors suggest he is at the Swedish ambassador's house," Sahdan said.

The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur confirmed that Hasan had arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning.

Hasan had planned to stay in Kuala Lumpur for several days to meet with representatives from the Indonesian government. From there he would be taken to Jakarta before being flown to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, his home town.

A spokesman of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA), Ibrahim Bin Syamsudin, said Hasan would be greeted in Aceh by KPA officials and local Ulemas.

During his stay in Kuala Lumpur, Hasan would be accompanied by figures who were involved in the peace negotiations between the Indonesian government and GAM in Helsinki.

It was reported that Indonesia's former chief negotiator (now Indonesian ambassador to Russia), Hamid Awaluddin, had accompanied Hasan, as well as GAM leaders Malik Mahmud and Zaini Abdullah.

Earlier it was reported that Hasan would fly directly from Subang airport in Malaysia to Sultan Iskandar Muda International airport in Aceh.

Whether or not he would fly to Jakarta first before heading to Aceh would depend on how successful Jakarta is in lobbying him in the negotiations. (and)

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