1,250 TNI soldiers withdrawn from Aceh
1,250 TNI soldiers withdrawn from Aceh
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh
The Indonesian Military (TNI) pulled out 1,250 Army soldiers from
Aceh on Monday, the first major troop withdrawal after the
signing of a peace deal by the government and the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) last week.
Maj. Gen. Supiadin A.S., the Iskandar Muda military commander
overseeing Aceh, led a farewell ceremony for the troops. A
member from the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), a group of foreign
peace monitors, also attended.
The troops, two battalions of the elite Army's Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad), have served in Aceh for more than a
year. They left on board a navy ship from Krueng Geukueh port in
North Aceh. A single battalion consists of between 600 and 650
soldiers.
Supiadin, a two-star general, said the troop withdrawal was
evidence of the TNI's commitment to implement the peace deal.
"There will be no replacement of the troops. The withdrawal of
the two battalions was supposed to be conducted in line with the
decommissioning of GAM. But as a proof of the TNI's commitment
to the peace deal, we pulled them out earlier," he said.
Supiadin said he hoped GAM would do its part by handing in its
weapons soon.
According to the peace agreement, the withdrawal of non-
indigenous military and police forces will be carried out from
Sept. 15 to Dec. 31 in four stages to parallel GAM's surrender of
weapons under the supervision of the AMM.
GAM has agreed to surrender 840 weapons, which it says makes
up its total armaments.
After Dec. 31, there should be 14,700 soldiers and 9,100
police officers left in Aceh, according to the peace accord.
The TNI had assigned 40 out-of-area or "non-organic"
battalions to Aceh following the imposition of a martial law in
the province in 2003. Thirty-seven of these still remain in the
province after the military on Aug. 6 withdrew one battalion of
marine forces.
A departing soldier, Second Sgt. Kadmirah, was hopeful that
Aceh, which had been plagued with bloody conflict during the past
three decades, could finally enjoy a lasting peace.
"I am sure GAM is willing to surrender their weapons. I do
hope GAM respects the peace deal so the Aceh problems can end
peacefully, without more victims," he said.
Lt. Col. Fadhilah, the commander of one of the departing
battalions, said during its tour of duty the battalion had seized
70 weapons and arrested 124 GAM members. Soldiers had killed 90
GAM members, he said.
Observers hope the signing of the peace pact in Helsinki will
end the hostilities.
Monitors from the European Union and South East Asian
countries are scheduled to begin work on Sept. 15.