Disarmament begins

Disarmament begins

A milestone in Indonesian history was marked on Thursday when one of the world's longest-running fights for independence was put to an end in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, with members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) disarming themselves.

Seventy-eight guns were surrendered to foreign peace monitors in the course of the day in a field in Aceh's provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the first in a series of weapons hand overs scheduled until the end of the year.

The disarmament is taking place under a landmark peace agreement signed one month ago in Helsinki by GAM and the Indonesian government. -- JP

Photo A: GAM

AP

CHECKING FOR BULLETS: A member of GAM holds a weapon during the handing over of weapons to the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), the first of four batches of weapons that will be surrendered before the end of December.

Photo B: GAM

AP

GUN COLLECTION: Members of GAM hand over their guns to foreign observers in a ceremony covered by hundreds of journalists.

Photo C: GAM

Reuters

BURY THE HATCHET: AMM members destroy the rifles of GAM members in Banda Aceh.

Photo D: GAM

Reuters

SOUVENIRS OF WAR: AMM members gather weapons to be destroyed in the first phase of the disarmament of GAM rebels.

Photo E: GAM

Reuters

SAYING GOODBYE: A member of GAM checks a weapon before surrendering it to members of AMM, which officially started on Thursday its peace monitoring mission in Aceh.