Irwandi Yusuf is the Governor of Aceh. A former commander in the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), he was imprisoned in 2003 but escaped when the Keudah Prison was destroyed by the tsunami of December 2004. He subsequently participated in the Helsinki peace negotiations.
Haji Abdi Hussein Yususf ‘Abdi Warabe’ is one of oldest and well known genuine traditional leaders in Somaliland. He is the second deputy chair of the Elders House (Guurti) of the Somaliland bi-cameral parliament. He was instrumental in the 1993 Borame conference where the successful social contract was agreed among the Somaliland clans. His traditional title is ‘chief Aqil’.
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Arif Yunusov was a research fellow at the Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences 1972-92, before directing the information unit of the presidential administration 1992-93. He now heads the Department of Conflict and Migration Studies at the Institute of Peace and Democracy in Baku.
Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim ‘Xildhiban’ is a British-Somali author and peace activist. He studied political science and international relations at the University of Florence. He is also director of Xildhiban Publications.
Dr. Wolfers is foundation Professor of Politics at the University of Wollongong, Australia, currently on leave to serve as Adviser to the Government of Papua New Guinea on the Bougainville peace process.
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Fadlullah Wilmot taught at Syiah Kuala University in Aceh from 1970-1975. He was later head of the Rector’s office of the International Islamic University in Malaysia and contributed to relief efforts in Aceh after the tsunami.
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Sue Williams is an independent consultant who has lived and worked for most of her professional life as a mediator and a trainer in conflict transformation and development.
As adviser on international affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Terry Waite negotiated the release of several hostages in the Middle East before being taken captive himself in Beirut in 1987. He was released in 1991.
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Joaquín Villalobos is a former leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. A consultant on peacemaking and security matters, he is also a visiting scholar at Oxford University and is on the Colombia Working Group at Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, DC.
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Alejo Vargas Velásquez is a Professor at the National University of Colombia and a member of the Civilian Facilitation Commission.
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