A. M. Azahari

Sheikh Azahari bin Sheikh Mahmud (1928 or 1929–2002), better known as A.M. Azahari, was a Brunei politician turned rebel. Born of mixed Arab-Malay heritage in Labuan, he was educated in Java and later fought against the Dutch there. Azahari was also put behind bars in both Singapore and Malaysia during colonial times under charges of sedition. He was the leader of the Brunei People's Party which sought to reduce the power of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III to a constitutional monarch during the Brunei Revolt in 1962.

Azahari's party won all 10 elected seats in the 21-member legislative council and as a left-leaning politician and socialist, Azahari strongly objected to the Sultan's idea for Brunei's membership in the Federation of Malaysia, along with British North Borneo (which was later renamed to Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore. He favoured Brunei's independence and merging with British North Borneo and Sarawak to form the North Kalimantan Federation, with the Sultan of Brunei as the constitutional monarch.

During the Brunei Revolt, Azahari was in Manila and managed to avoid capture by British and Commonwealth forces that help quell the revolt. He later fled to Jakarta for asylum in 1963 and lived in exile in Kalimantan until his death in 2002 [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18236.htm] . He never returned to Brunei.

References

* World History Study Guide. [http://www.bookrags.com/history/worldhistory/parti-rakyat-brunei-ema-04/ "Parti Rakyat Brunei History Summary"] . Retrieved Dec. 15, 2005.
* Sejarah Indonesia [http://www.gimonca.com/sejarah/sejarah09.shtml "The Sukarno years: 1950 to 1965"] . Retrieved Dec. 15, 2005.