TNI gearing up for troop withdrawal from Aceh: Officer

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.