Aceh rebels surrender more guns in fourth handover

Aceh rebels surrender more guns in fourth handover

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Jakarta

Former separatist rebels in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged province
of Aceh began surrendering more weapons on Wednesday in the last
stage of decommissioning aimed at ending nearly 30 years of
conflict, military officials said.

The handover - the fourth round since weapons decommissioning
began in September - was scheduled to last two days in the two
regencies of Kutacane and Takengon, unless rebels failed to meet
the expected quota.

"It is scheduled for today and tomorrow with the expectation
of at least 212 weapons," Indonesian military (TNI) spokesman Lt.
Col. Erie Soetikno told DPA.

Under the latest peace deal, signed on Aug. 15 in Helsinki,
Finland, rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have to hand in
a total of 840 weapons in four stages before the end of the year.

During the three hand-overs that began last September, rebels
have turned in a total of 792 weapons that have been recognized
and accepted by the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), a team from
European Union (EU) and ASEAN nations monitoring the
implementation of the peace deal.

The Indonesian military has only recognized 628 as having met
qualifications and is disputing the others.

The weapons, ammunition and explosives collected in the fourth
round were due to be destroyed by the AMM after the TNI verifies
them according to their condition as stated in the peace deal.

In response to the disarmament, the Indonesian government is
expected to pull out some 5,600 troops after the final handover
is completed.

"We have scheduled the last pull-out starting from December
20th to 29th with the total troops around 6,000," Lt. Col. Erie
Soetikno said.

Indonesia had more than 30,000 soldiers and 15,000 policemen
in Aceh before the truce, and 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police
officers are to remain under the agreement after the end of the
next withdrawal.

The decommissioning of weapons and the withdrawal of military
forces from Aceh will pave the way for the next step -
reintegrating the former rebels - in ending nearly three decades
of armed conflict in the province that has left more than 15,000,
mostly civilians, dead.

Earlier attempts at peace in Aceh have failed, but the
December 26 tsunami, which destroyed large swathes of Aceh,
killing more than 167,000 people, paved the way for the latest
peace accord.