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.