1,250 TNI soldiers withdrawn from Aceh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.