Monitors expects next disarmament before Ramadhan

Monitors expects next disarmament before Ramadhan

The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) says it expects the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) to surrender more weapons before the start of the
Ramadhan fasting month in early October.

"We hope that the second stage (of the disarmament process)
could be carried out before Ramadhan," head of AMM Pieter Feith
told reporters here on Saturday, referring to the Muslim fasting
month.

GAM surrendered a quarter of its weapons of various types,
including AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles, to AMM during the first
stage of the decommissioning process completed on Sept. 17.

Under the peace accord signed by the government and GAM, the
former rebel group is required to surrender all of its declared
840 weapons in four stages to be completed by Dec. 31.

AMM, which groups peace monitors from the European Union and
certain member countries of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), will then destroy the weapons after a
verification process.

In exchange for GAM's disarmament, the Indonesian Military
TNI) 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 will be allowed to
stay.

Feith said that the government had carried out its part of the
deal in pulling out some of the non-regular military and police
personnel from Aceh.

He said that over the past 10 days, the government had carried
out voluntary actions by withdrawing some 6,500 TNI troops and
1,300 paramilitary police from Aceh.

Feith was hopeful that the whole disarmament process could be
completed by the end of this year.

Under the agreement, GAM has agreed to dissolve as a military
organization and to drop its demand for independence. In return,
the government has promised an amnesty and full political rights
for GAM members, the release of political prisoners, and is now
in the process of withdrawing more than half of the estimated
57,000 soldiers and police currently stationed in the province.

The government has also promised to provide former GAM members
with small plots of land and money in order to help them
reintegrate into Acehnese society.

Meanwhile, State Minister of Communications and Information
Sofyan Djalil, who has also been active in brokering the peace
accord, said that the government had offered some Rp 200 billion
(about US$19 million) worth of funds to help finance the
reintegration process of GAM members back into the community.

He said that part of the money would also be used to help
people whose lives had been affected by the decades-long
conflict.