Elite police force withdraws from Aceh<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Around 1,300 Mobile Brigade Police left Aceh on Wednesday as part
\nof a peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels
\nwhich requires the Indonesian government to gradually withdraw
\nsecurity forces personnel from the province.<\/p>\n
The pullout of the police strike force came a day before GAM
\nmembers start handing over guns to foreign monitors.<\/p>\n
Peace was reached on Aug. 15 after GAM gave up its demand for
\nindependence in Aceh, where 30 years of fighting has killed
\n15,000 people. Officials expect the deal to help reconstruction
\nin the tsunami-stricken province on the northern tip of Sumatra
\nisland.<\/p>\n
\"The two sides have a strong will to end the conflict,\"
\nNational Police chief Gen. Sutanto said as he sent off the police
\nwho boarded a vessel.<\/p>\n
\"This goodwill has been apparent during meetings between the
\ntwo sides, which have been full of warmth.\"<\/p>\n
Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) chief Pieter Feith also
\nwitnessed the pullout.<\/p>\n
The policemen joked and laughed as they carried their
\nautomatic weapons and backpacks onto the ship in Lhokseumawe on
\nAceh's northern coast after an army brass band gave them a send-
\noff. Many carried souvenirs such as caged birds.<\/p>\n
\"I am really happy that I will be seeing my family again,\"
\nImannuel, a policeman from Sulawesi, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Added Saefuddin from Kalimantan: \"During my duty in Aceh, I
\nwas in firefights but God protected us.\"<\/p>\n
Under the scrutiny of European and Southeast Asian monitors in
\nthe AMM, Jakarta will remove troops and police simultaneously as
\nGAM hands over weapons in four stages until the end of the year.<\/p>\n
There are more than 30,000 soldiers in Aceh, as well as about
\n15,000 police. The final withdrawal under the Helsinki accord
\nwill leave Aceh with around 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police.<\/p>\n
Aceh Police spokesman Djoko Turochman said that after
\nWednesday's pullout, some 4,000 police would still need to leave.<\/p>\n
The troop withdrawal as well as the decommissioning of weapons
\nand destruction of 840 GAM weapons is seen as one element that
\ncould derail the landmark peace deal if not enough guns are given
\nup.<\/p>\n
GAM has said 210 weapons would be handed in during the first
\nphase on Thursday that lasts for a few days.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has said the military was comfortable with the number
\nof weapons that GAM has stated as the arsenal held by some 3,000
\nactive rebels.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, a closed-door meeting between the House of
\nRepresentatives and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN),
\nhowever, revealed that the actual number of GAM's weapons could
\nbe double the number claimed by the group.<\/p>\n
\"We doubt that the real figure is just 840. So we called for a
\ncontingency plan,\" said Yuddy Chrisnandi, a member of House
\nCommission I on defense and foreign affairs.<\/p>\n
The commission, he added, suggested a mechanism whereby both
\nsides would be allowed free access to scrutinize each other's
\ncamps after all 840 weapons have been surrendered and all
\nreinforcement troops are withdrawn.<\/p>\n
\"For example, the TNI and the AMM would be given access to
\nGAM's base camps to see if there are any weapons left, and the
\nGAM would also have access to our military bases,\" said Yuddy of
\nthe Golkar Party.<\/p>",
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