muhammad daud bereu'eh
In 1985, in Tiro gained Libyan support for GAM, taking advantage of Muammar Gaddafi's policy of supporting a nationalist uprising through "Mathaba Against Imperialism, Racism, Zionism and Fascism." [12] It is unclear whether Libya has funded GAM, but it is definitely a shelter where GAM soldiers can receive much needed military training. [12] A number of GAM fighters trained by Libya during the period 1986-1989 or 1990 recount different acknowledgments. [13] GAM recruiters claim that their number is around 1,000 to 2,000 while press reports written on Indonesian military reports state that they number 600-800. [12] Among the GAM leaders who joined during this phase were Sofyan Dawood (who later became commander of GAM Pasè, Aceh Utara) and Isaac Daud (who became a GAM spokesman in Peureulak, East Aceh). [14]
The second stage incident began in 1989 following the return of GAM training participants from Libya. [15] GAM operations include raids of weapons, attacks on police and military posts, arson and killings targeted to police and military personnel, government informants and pro-Indonesian figures.
Despite failing to gain broad support, the more aggressive actions of the GAM group made the Indonesian government to enforce repressive measures. The period between 1989 and 1998 later became known as the era of the Regional Military Operations (DOM) of Aceh when the Indonesian military stepped up counter-insurgency operations in Aceh. [10] This move, though tactically destroying GAM guerrillas, has resulted in casualties among the local civilians in Aceh. Feeling alienated from the Republic of Indonesia after the military operation, the Acehnese civilians later gave support and helped GAM rebuild its organization when the Indonesian military was almost entirely withdrawn from Aceh on the orders of President Habibie at the end of the 1998 era after the fall of Soeharto. [16] Major GAM commanders have either been killed (GAM commander Pasè Yusuf Ali and senior GAM commander Keuchik Umar), arrested (Ligadinsyah) or run away (Robert, Arjuna and Ahmad Kandang