HASAN TIRO RECOVERING FROM ILLNESS IN ACEH HOSPITAL

Banda Aceh, Aceh Darussalam, May 29 (ANTARA) - Former GAM (Free Aceh Movement) leader Tengku Hasan di Tiro is currently undergoing intensive medical treatment at the Dr Zainoel Abidin General Hospital (RSUZA) here but his condition is reported to be improving.
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who visited the 80-year-old top GAM figure in hospital, here on Saturday, said Hasan Tiro's state of health was improving.

"He was hospitalized last week when his health had deteriorated. . But today (Saturday morning) he is in much batter shape," Irwandi said after the visit.

Tiro was previously put on drips and had to undergo dialysis to neutralize chemical substances in his body, the governor said, adding that there was no problem with Tiro's kidneys.

RSUZA Director Taufik Mahdi said the hospital had formed a special team of doctors, including one from Jakarta, to treat Hasan Tiro.

"We have given him respiratory and lung support. Thank God, his condition has begun to stabilize." he said.

Tiro, the founder of the separatist GAM came back to Aceh after living in self-exile for nearly 30 years in Sweden.

Following a deadly tsunami in Aceh late 2004, the Indonesian Government and GAM representatives had held peace talks facilitated by the Finland-based NGO Crisis Management Initiative led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

Both sides finally agreed to sign a peace accord on August 15, 2005. Under the agreement, Aceh received special autonomy within the Republic of Indonesia.