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by Timo Kivimäki The September 11 incident and its aftermath have changed the setting
of the campaign for Acehnese independence. Previously, the United States
and the West were less interested in Indonesian security priorities, and
more inclined to react against violations of human rights in the nation.
Now, due to the need to seduce Indonesia into the anti-terrorist alliance
there is more will to please Indonesia and less room for moralistic foreign
policies aimed at protecting the human rights of dissidents from Aceh.
According to the two figureheads of the Free Aceh Movement in Europe,
Dr. Husaini Hasan (Chair) and Yusuf Daud (Secretary General), the current
situation does not look promising for Aceh: "There is nothing Aceh
will gain from it". The damage done by the new setting is limited,
however, according to Dr. Husaini, by the fact that Indonesia has domestic
problems that prevent it from utilizing American-style anti-terrorist
rhetoric in its fight against the Acehnese independence fighters. According
to Yusuf Daud, the "Muslim fanatics" of Jakarta and Java prevent
Indonesia from fully The arguments used by Yusuf Daud and Husaini Hasan against the conception of Aceh Merdeka as a terrorist organization were based on three pivotal points: Achenese independence fighters are not Muslim fanatics, They do not have
a quarrel with the United States They do not target innocent people, but
instead defend themselves against military aggression. According to Husaini Hassan, Indonesia's offer of autonomy with a strictly
religious flavour and its effort to retain the same Philippine mediator
who mediated talks between the Philippine government and the Philippine
Islamic fundamentalists as a mediator between A discursive tactic used over and over again during the discussion by
the two Free Aceh leaders was to use the expression "Islamic fanatic"
in referring to the demonstrating groups in Jakarta and Java. Another
discursive strategy that could easily be noted in Regarding anti-Americanism, the two leaders referred to the "mainstream interpretations" of CNN and the BBC by pointing out the fact that all the reports of anti-American demonstrations in Indonesia always portray sites in Java, never in Aceh. According to Yusuf Daud, "If Americans do not feel safe in Jakarta, they are always welcome in Aceh." Husaini Hasan said that Acehnese people have never had time to concentrate on global issues, since they have always been too busy staging their own campaign against what they call "Javanese colonialism". There is some evidence of connections between certain fragments of the Free Aceh Movement and the USA's global enemies, the Taliban and the network of Osama bin Laden; but when questioned on this, both leaders rejected the claim. Again, the leaders of the Free Aceh Movement in Europe tended to turn the accusation of anti-Americanism and connections to hostile groups around onto the Indonesian government by pointing at the anti-American demonstrations and the rumor that Indonesia's former president Abdurrahman Wahid had close ties with Muslim organizations in Mindanao in the Philippines. The Free Aceh Movement's strategy is to call the Indonesian police and
the military terrorists. From the viewpoint of Jakarta, Indonesians are
involved in an "Operation for the Restoration of Security and the
Enforcement of Law" but from the viewpoint of the independence fighters,
Jakarta is carrying out terrorism in Aceh. According to Husaini Hasan,
Jakarta's police and military force are engaging in a battle against civilians;
partly due to their failure to establish terrorist militias in Aceh similar
to the ones in This interview with Yusuf Daud and Husaini Hasan revealed clearly how different various Asian perspectives on the "post-September 11 world order" can be. Many of the views presented in the interview were in clear contradiction with both Western and other Asian perceptions. Nevertheless, it became clear to me that the rhetoric of terrorism has entered Asian "discursive battles", and different actors make use of it differently. I felt grateful that these two well-known Acehnese figures were willing to share their strategic perspectives with me and with NIASNytt 's readers.
 Please stop the extremely human right abuses that still going on in front of you now. You as the closest witness in this area can tell the peoples in the world ...
The all-of-sudden decision taken by the Acheh Sumatra National Liberation Front - ASNLF - to pull out the16-18 November talks in Geneva last week, has taken Jakarta aback.
by Timo Kivimäki Achenese independence fighters are not Muslim fanatics, They do not have a quarrel with the United States. They do not target innocent people, but instead defend themselves against military aggression.
Relation with the British, 1760-1824 LEE KAM HING, University of Malaya The British came closest to securing a base in Acheh during this period when he later was looked upon as an invaluable entrepot to support their China trade and as a possible naval base to protect British interests in the region against other European powers.
Teuku Don Zulfahri This is the second political assassination on MP GAM members in Kuala Lumpur within two months. On the tenth of April, 2000, the mercenaries of Malik Mahmud had brutally murdered a member of MP GAM, ...
By: M. Yusuf Daud (The Jakarta Post, November 27, 1999 Editorial and Opinion) STOCKHOLM, Sweden (JP): The struggle of the oppressed peoples of the world for their right to self-determination has often been overshadowed by the notion of so-called "territorial integrity" and the principle of noninterference in the "internal affairs" of a sovereign state. ______________________
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Achenese independence fighters are not Muslim fanatics,
