GAM to start disarming next week

GAM to start disarming next week

INDONESIA: Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province will
start laying down their weapons next week in compliance with a
peace agreement with the government, the head of foreign monitors
overseeing the pact said in Banda Aceh Saturday.

"We are happy to announce that the first handing-in of weapons
will take place on the 15th, 16th and 17th of this month," said
Pieter Feith, who heads a team of around 200 European and
Southeast Asian monitors.

Under the peace agreement signed in Helsinki on August 15, the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is required to lay down a quarter of its
840 firearms during the first phase and to completely disarm by
the end of the year.

Irwandi Yusuf, a GAM representative, said three districts --
Aceh Besar, Pidie and Bireuen -- had been designated as weapon
collection points.

"We are ready to lay down our weapons. I'm optimistic that
this will work," he told reporters after a meeting attended by
representatives from the government, rebels and the Aceh
Monitoring Mission.

"It is time that we said goodbye to those weapons because they
have fulfilled their jobs already," he said.

Feith, a Dutchman, said as soon as the rebels had surrendered
25 percent of their weapons, the military would start withdrawing
its non-local troops from the province. -- AFP