Reuters
17 June, 2003
A woman mourns a relative killed in civil conflict. Government forces have been battling the separatist Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM) for control of the oil and gas-rich area since 1976. An agreement signed in December 2002, offering autonomy in return for rebel disarmament, collapsed a few months later when it became clear that neither side was fulfilling its obligations. In May the army launched a major offensive against GAM rebels. Both sides claimed that the other was targeting civilians.
