GAM surrenders more weapons<\/p>\n
Agencies, Bireuen, Aceh<\/p>\n
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) surrendered 109 more weapons to
\nforeign monitors on Friday as part of the peace agreement
\nrecently signed with the Indonesian government.<\/p>\n
GAM commander overseeing Batee Iliek Darwis Djeunieb handed
\nover the weapons of various types, including AK-47 and M-16
\nassault rifles, to Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) chief Pieter
\nFeith in Peudada village.<\/p>\n
After Friday prayers, the monitors examined the weapons and
\ncut them into pieces.<\/p>\n
Following the submission of the second batch of weapons, GAM
\nhas surrendered 187 arms. It is scheduled to complete
\ndecommissioning of 210 weapons, or a quarter of its armaments, in
\nPidie on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Under the peace accord signed on Aug. 18, the rebel group has
\nto decommission all of its 840 declared arms, ammunitions and
\nexplosives in four stages. The process must conclude by Dec. 31.<\/p>\n
In exchange for GAM's disarmament, the Indonesian Military and
\nNational Police must reduce their presence in the tsunami-wrecked
\nprovince. At the end of the disarmament process, only 14,700
\nsoldiers and 9,100 police officers are allowed to stay.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, GAM members surrendered the first batch of 78
\naging firearms to the European Union and Southeast Asian
\nmonitoring mission in Banda Aceh, but 17 were rejected after they
\nwere judged to be unusable, said Juri Laas, a spokesman for the
\nmission.<\/p>\n
A potential problem emerged over what kind of weapons were
\nincluded in the agreement.<\/p>\n
Aceh Military Commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin said that homemade
\nweapons, typically primitive single-shot guns, should not count
\ntoward the final figure. Rebel commanders disagreed, saying all
\nweapons should be included.<\/p>\n
The accord does not specify the type of weapons to be handed
\nin.<\/p>\n
Laas said that homemade weapons did count under the deal so
\nlong as they were fireable.<\/p>\n
He said that disagreements over the details of the process
\nwere "no surprise," and that "we are well on track" for
\nSaturday's deadline to be met.<\/p>\n
Quoting a report from the State Intelligence Agency, the House
\nof Representatives lawmakers said the number of weapons GAM
\nagreed to surrender were only a half of the real figure the group
\nis in possession.<\/p>\n
Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Husein said the
\nmilitary was preparing the withdrawal of two battalion of troops
\non Sunday.<\/p>\n
"Now we are preparing to pull out two battalions from Aceh on
\nSept. 18," Achmad said as quoted by AP. "We respect the good will
\nshown by the rebels so far."<\/p>\n
A battalion has between 600 and 1,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
Previously the National Police pulled out around 1,300 Mobile
\nBrigade strike force personnel from Aceh on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Efforts to end three decades of armed conflict in Aceh picked
\nup pace after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated the province,
\nkilling over 129,000 people and leaving a half-million others
\nhomeless.<\/p>\n
An earlier agreement broke down in 2003 amid disagreements
\nover its terms and repeated violations by both sides.<\/p>",
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