No alternative to political path, says Aceh candidate backed by ex-rebels

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2006

BANDA ACEH (AFP) — Former separatist rebels have no alternative but to follow the political path after laying down their weapons, a key candidate backed by ex-combatants has said ahead of elections in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province. Muhammad Nazar, 37, is running for the post of deputy governor in Monday's local elections, the first in which former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have participated since last year's Helsinki accords ended three decades of war that killed nearly 15,000 people.

Nazar is teamed with candidate for governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel spokesman who trained as a veterinarian. "So there is no other choice for groups which have struggled," Nazar told AFP in an interview. "We must have control of the executive, form a local party,...