TNI gearing up for troop withdrawal from Aceh: Officer

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) is preparing to withdraw reinforcement troops from Aceh in stages once a peace deal is signed by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Aug. 15.

"We (the TNI) support the peace process that has been reached by the government and GAM during a series of informal talks on Aceh in Helsinki.

"To show our support for the peace process, we are now preparing several policies with respect to our duties in Aceh, including the withdrawal of nonorganic troops from the province," TNI spokesman Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki was quoted as saying by Antara on Sunday.

The colonel said soldiers posted in remote and hilly areas in Aceh had begun to pack their bags and pull back to nearby towns to facilitate a speedy withdrawal.

Under the draft peace deal, Indonesia will reduce the military and police presence in Aceh, in conjunction with the collection and destruction of GAM weapons.

About 300 unarmed monitors from the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will oversee the security arrangements.

Though the official pullout will only start next week, 654 marines left the province on Saturday from Krueng Geukuh Port in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, aboard the KRI Teluk Kaung warship. The marines were returning to Jakarta after almost a year in Aceh.

According to the TNI, the marines had killed at least 42 suspected rebels and arrested 11 others while on duty in Aceh. They also seized 31 weapons from the guerrillas.

Yani said there were currently about 30,000 reinforcement troops in Aceh, the biggest deployment in modern Indonesian history to quell a rebellion. About 12,000 troops were deployed in East Timor to quell the separatist movement there.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the troop withdrawal from Aceh would take three months starting in September.

Yani, however, said the TNI would continue to act against those threatening security in Aceh.

"The TNI will not abandon its main task of maintaining security even though a peace deal has been reached," Yani said.

Although the government lifted martial law in Aceh last year and the ensuing state of civil emergency in May this year, a heavy troop presence has been maintained.

Citing friction within the GAM structure, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has said the military is preparing a contingency plan to anticipate possible violations of the peace agreement.

According to reports, the TNI is considering the possibility of maintaining 20,000 organic troops in Aceh. Normally, the number of organic troops, who are attached to a regional military command, does not exceed 10 battalions, or about 10,000 personnel.

In exchange for giving up its independence bid, GAM will be allowed to form its own political parties that will be able to contest regional elections in 2009.