[Oorang]

News report from Banda Aceh, FYI

Acehnese town that bore tsunami's brunt
By Paul Dillon in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C16C930F-48D0-4641-9B25-DBA0FADFE29B.htm

[Oorang]

Disaster raises hope for Aceh peace
Saturday 01 January 2005, 8:57 Makka Time, 5:57 GMT

The disaster has focussed world attention on the region

Separatists fighting for Aceh's independence from Indonesian rule feel the tsunami that wrecked the region could eventually help in heralding peace.

Malik Mahmud, a leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the region's self-styled prime minister, on Friday said the international focus on Aceh - the area worst hit by the flood waves triggered by Sunday's earthquake - might benefit the rebels.

Mahmud, who lives in exile in Sweden, said Jakarta had tried to prevent the outside world from knowing about Aceh's independence struggle. "But now people abroad know where is Aceh, what is Aceh."

Excerpted

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/97DF8A85-DAA5-43B4-95E1-6376CD5CF806.htm