JAKARTA, June 2 — Indonesia said on Monday it would send a delegation to Stockholm to offer evidence against Swedish-based Aceh rebel leaders after Sweden rejected demands for their extradition. The decision was made after a cabinet meeting, chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil said earlier Indonesia would donwgrade relations with Sweden over the dispute. Any downgrading of ties would be largely symbolic as the two countries do not have extensive commercial relations.
"Jer Majesty, Indonesia's downgraded their diplomatic relations with us!"
"Ja, sure! That's awful. Who?"
"Indonesia, jer Majesty."
"Somewhere in the South Seas, isn't it?"
"Somewhere around there." |
Sweden is home to 50 Acehnese, including the top rebel commanders and Sultan Hasan Tiro, considered by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists to be Aceh's head of state.
How in the hell did Sweden become the safe house for Indonesian rebels??
| They're into blondes. And the welfare checks are bigger than Norway's... |
"(The delegation) will be comprised of foreign ministry, police and intelligence who will give evidence on Hasan Tiro and friends," Yudhoyono said. Indonesia, which declared martial law in Aceh and launched a sweeping offensive against the rebels two weeks ago after a five-month peace agreement collapsed, has been pressing Stockholm to expel GAM officials, arguing among other things that they are linked to terrorist acts. But Sweden said at the weekend it had sent a letter to Indonesia stating why it could not expel the rebel leaders, a number of them Swedish citizens.
| "Ja, sure! How could we possibly extradite Ole Abdullah? Why, he even speaks Swedish, kinda..." |
"We cannot react before we have any evidence that these GAM people have done anything illegal," said Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Lars-Olof Lundberg. Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh told Swedish news agency TT on Sunday there were no legal grounds to expel the rebels. ''We cannot break our own laws,'' she said.
| "And it's not against Swedish law to run a military organization in somebody else's country..." |
Scores of people have been killed in the latest offensive and as many as 23,000 people have fled from their homes because of the fighting. |