http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/gam-founder-hospitalized-in-aceh/345954
December 07, 2009 Nurdin Hasan GAM Founder Hospitalized in Aceh Banda Aceh. Tengku Hasan di Tiro, founder of the Free Aceh Movement, was admitted to the hospital on Saturday morning after complaining of abdominal pain. The 84-year-old is now being treated at the intensive care unit of Zainoel Abidin General Hospital. "Doctors recommended that he stay at the hospital for several more days until he is completely healthy, although his condition has already improved since last night," Kamaruddin Abubakar, the deputy chairman of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA), told the Jakarta Globe. Kamaruddin is more popularly known as Abu Razak. Abu Razak said Tiro was still being given intravenous liquids to help speed his recovery, adding that his health had suffered because of fatigue after spending several days in Pidie district during the Idul Adha holiday. "[Tiro] can become really exhausted because he's no longer young," Abu Razak said. "But he is improving now. When I visited him, he was already able to go to the rest room without using a wheelchair." Tiro founded the separatist movement, also known as GAM, in 1976. It was disbanded in 2005 after a peace accord was signed with the government. Several former GAM guerillas said Tiro, whose room at the hospital was being secured by his comrades in the movement, wanted to remain in the province until his death. The KPA is renting a house for Tiro in the East Lamteumen area in the city's suburbs. Tiro returned to the country in October, after fleeing Indonesia in 1977 and staying in Sweden for 29 years. He was also in the country last year. It was the only other time he had visited Indonesia since 1977. The government signed a peace agreement with GAM in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 15, 2005, ending a 30-year armed conflict that left an estimated 25,000 people dead, including many civilians. The agreement was prompted by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in December 2004 that killed about 170,000 people in Aceh. Abu Razak's KPA was established to help reintegrate former GAM guerillas into Acehnese society and to reinforce the peace agreement. During his time in Sweden, Tiro was reported to have suffered from two strokes, impairing his speech. Because of his condition, Tiro has rarely committed himself to activities requiring him to speak. Related articles Hope for Lasting Peace Marks GAM Anniversary in Aceh 11:30 PM 04/12/2009 Restoration Of Aceh Psychiatric Hospital Completed 11:56 PM 24/11/2009 36,000 Hectares of Aceh's Leuser Ecosystem Lost to Logging 9:54 PM 11/11/2009 Aceh Shariah Police Chase the 'Immoral' 6:07 PM 08/11/2009 Civic Groups Call on Indonesia to Annul Aceh Stoning Bylaw 10:43 PM 05/11/2009
