THE thin middle-aged man appeared suddenly when the residents of Seulimum, Greater Aceh, were gathering at the mosque. Teungku Kamarin, as he was known, arrived just when a moving atmosphere prevailed at the thanksgiving party to welcome the peace between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last week Thursday. Relatives and friends who remembered Kamarin embraced him at once, jostling to greet him: Welcome home, my brother.

Seven years ago,