GAM surrenders more weapons

GAM surrenders more weapons

Agencies, Bireuen, Aceh

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) surrendered 109 more weapons to foreign monitors on Friday as part of the peace agreement recently signed with the Indonesian government.

GAM commander overseeing Batee Iliek Darwis Djeunieb handed over the weapons of various types, including AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles, to Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) chief Pieter Feith in Peudada village.

After Friday prayers, the monitors examined the weapons and cut them into pieces.

Following the submission of the second batch of weapons, GAM has surrendered 187 arms. It is scheduled to complete decommissioning of 210 weapons, or a quarter of its armaments, in Pidie on Saturday.

Under the peace accord signed on Aug. 18, the rebel group has to decommission all of its 840 declared arms, ammunitions and explosives in four stages. The process must conclude by Dec. 31.

In exchange for GAM's disarmament, the Indonesian Military and National Police must reduce their presence in the tsunami-wrecked province. At the end of the disarmament process, only 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police officers are allowed to stay.

On Thursday, GAM members surrendered the first batch of 78 aging firearms to the European Union and Southeast Asian monitoring mission in Banda Aceh, but 17 were rejected after they were judged to be unusable, said Juri Laas, a spokesman for the mission.

A potential problem emerged over what kind of weapons were included in the agreement.

Aceh Military Commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin said that homemade weapons, typically primitive single-shot guns, should not count toward the final figure. Rebel commanders disagreed, saying all weapons should be included.

The accord does not specify the type of weapons to be handed in.

Laas said that homemade weapons did count under the deal so long as they were fireable.

He said that disagreements over the details of the process were "no surprise," and that "we are well on track" for Saturday's deadline to be met.

Quoting a report from the State Intelligence Agency, the House of Representatives lawmakers said the number of weapons GAM agreed to surrender were only a half of the real figure the group is in possession.

Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Husein said the military was preparing the withdrawal of two battalion of troops on Sunday.

"Now we are preparing to pull out two battalions from Aceh on Sept. 18," Achmad said as quoted by AP. "We respect the good will shown by the rebels so far."

A battalion has between 600 and 1,000 soldiers.

Previously the National Police pulled out around 1,300 Mobile Brigade strike force personnel from Aceh on Wednesday.

Efforts to end three decades of armed conflict in Aceh picked up pace after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated the province, killing over 129,000 people and leaving a half-million others homeless.

An earlier agreement broke down in 2003 amid disagreements over its terms and repeated violations by both sides.