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