ABRI begins pulling out combat troops from Aceh

ABRI begins pulling out combat troops from Aceh

By Efendy Naibaho

LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) have begun to
withdraw troops from Aceh following the lifting of the province's
status as a military operation region.

Yesterday, the first group of 250 soldiers left Aceh -- long
blighted by the excessively violent suppression of small numbers
of armed insurgents. The second group of 660 troops will leave on
Aug. 31.

From the first group to leave, 100 troops were returning to
their original base in Bangkinang in Riau, and a further 100 were
going back to Padang Panjang in West Sumatra. Fifty members of
the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) were sent back to Jakarta.

Let. Col. Agus Ramadhan, spokesman for the military command
which oversees Aceh, Riau, North and West Sumatra, said the
second group of soldiers (including 29 from Kopassus) would also
be returned to their bases in Riau, Padang Panjang and Java.

Maj. Gen. Ismed Yuzairi, chief of the Bukit Barisan Northern
Sumatra Military Command, saw the troops off in a military
ceremony here yesterday. Also in attendance were Aceh Governor
Syamsudin Mahmud -- who recently requested a formal lifting of
the military operation status from the province -- local
officials, religious leaders and some survivors of violent
attacks by separatist rebels.

The troops looked happy and sang popular songs like Sayonara
and Di Sini Senang Di Sana Senang" (here I feel happy, there I
feel happy) aboard the 10 trucks leaving the city.

ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto, during his visit to Aceh on Aug.
7, decided to lift the military operation status from the
province and pull out all non-territorial soldiers. The move was
made in the midst of mounting uproar over human rights abuses
perpetrated by the military in the province.

Thousands of people have reportedly been killed, arrested and
gone missing, and thousands of houses have been burnt down in a
military operation -- code-named Red Net -- which has been in
progress since 1989, when it was launched to crush the Aceh
Merdeka separatist group.

Col. Dasiri Musnar, chief of the Aceh military district, said
the separatist group's activities have drastically declined and
its number of armed members had fallen to only 54.

Passive members and supporters of the separatist movement, he
said, would no longer pose a threat to the people.

He said 236 weapons had been confiscated over the course of
the operation.

Yuzairi asked the Aceh military district and the provincial
police to cooperate more closely with local social and religious
leaders, and youth and students organizations to maintain
security in the area.

"The presence of territorial troops and police should no
longer instill fear and hatred in the local people. They must
adjust to the new situation and help to create a feeling of
safety," he said.

He also apologized for all the mistakes committed by the
military during the nine-year operation. "On behalf of the ABRI
leadership...I apologize to all the Acehnese people for the
wrongdoings committed by troops while they were stationed here,"
he said.

Al Khatam, who witnessed the troops' withdrawal, denied the
presence of a separatist group in the province, saying that it
was "an old story." He also said people were happy to see troops
leaving because they would no longer have to live in fear of
death, arrest and torture.

Meanwhile, in Pidie regency, Baharuddin Lopa from the National
Commission on Human Rights said yesterday that his four-man
delegation intended to excavate a number of what people have
claimed to be mass graves containing the victims of ABRI
atrocities in the province.

"We are here for a serious business and ... (after we finish)
we will recommend that Aceh be restored to the situation it was
in before the operation started," he was quoted by Antara as
saying.