Nani Farida, Tamiang – Fatigued after a long journey, four journalists, one from The Jakarta Post, received a fright when a gunman suddenly stepped out from behind some trees near Paya Reyeuk, a remote village in Tamiang that is home to a large population of ethnic Javanese and Bataks.

The gunman, who later introduced himself as Kancil, trained his AK-47 on us and ordered us to identify ourselves and our reason for being in the area. He relaxed somewhat when we told him we had permission from his chief to stay in a Free Aceh Movement (GAM) camp in the regency.

Rebels and villagers interact easily and often here, to the extent that the rebels have become just another part of society in the regency.

"Arep nandi, Cil? [where are you going, Cil?]" a passerby asked Kancil in Javanese.

"Bar teko seko kono [I just came from there]," Kancil replied while guiding us into the village.

After contacting a GAM leader in the regency by radio, Kancil escorted us to an empty hut in the village. "I have been ordered to guard you during your stay here. Please, feel free to ask anything about GAM and its operations," Kancil said.

Treated as special guests, we were free to ask questions and look around the area during our four-day stay, as well as to talk to the villagers about their lives.

The village is dominated by ethnic Javanese and Bataks. The village has thousands of hectares of farmland surrounded by oil palm plantations, making it difficult to access.

It is the most unique of 17 villages and base camps controlled by GAM because it is so pluralist. Locals use three languages – Javanese, Taming and Melayu since it borders North Sumatra.

"Who says GAM hates the Javanese and Bataks? I'm Javanese and a majority of GAM members here are Javanese and Batak, and we can live in peace with the indigenous Acehnese. Of the utmost importance is that we are all of the same vision and ideology, and the solidarity among the people is maintained and developed," Kancil said.

Asked about his family background, Kancil, whose real name is Supriyadi, told the Post he was the eldest son of a poligamic family.

"I have 11 brothers and sisters from my father's three wives. I and eight of my siblings joined GAM, but one brother joined the Army in the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing security in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau," he said, adding that his father retired from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).

He said he joined GAM six years ago, after his uncle was tortured and killed by security personnel in 1996. "I started asking myself why the military oppressed the Acehnese," he said.

The 24-year-old Kancil said he rarely saw his wife and son as a consequence of his decision to join GAM, "and my wife is really aware of this situation".

Adi Dharma, a 20-year-old ethnic Javanese villager, said the rebels were an integral part of society in the regency because they came from local families.

"We are afraid of the security personnel but not the rebels because the obligation and mission of the rebels is to protect the people from oppression and torture," Adi said.

Kancil said the GAM barracks accommodated some 200 rebels and that their daily activities were similar to those of military soldiers, only they had more modern weapons than the soldiers.

"We have AK-47s, M-16s and grenades. The weapons were supplied from China and Russia but we still use bullets produced by state-owned PT Pindad in Bandung, West Java," he said. He declined to answer where GAM got the money to purchase the weapons.

"The most important thing is that the rebels are able to live in decent conditions and improve the lives of the people in the province," Kancil said.