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.