TNI pulls out more troops from Aceh

TNI pulls out more troops from Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The TNI pulled out another 2,163 soldiers from Aceh on Tuesday as
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) completed their second round of
weapons decommissioning as part of the terms of the peace
agreement that will end more than three decades of war.

Witnessed by dozens of locals, the troops embarked from the
Krueng Geukeuh port in Lhokseumawe following a ceremony led by
Aceh military commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin.

Peter Feith, who heads the Aceh Monitoring Mission, was also
present during the ceremony.

"Hopefully, this can really lead to an eternal peace here,"
said one marine, Lt. Col. I Ketut Suwarya.

The soldiers were among the first batch of some 6,000 troops
slated to leave Aceh under the second phase of the pullout this
month. The next rounds of the second phase pullout would be held
on Oct. 20 and 24.

The military has already withdrawn some 6,500 soldiers under
the agreement, which was signed by both sides in Finland's
capital Helsinki in August.

The pullout was made following the completion of the second
round of arms decommissioning by GAM, which had to be extended as
the number of weapons given up by the group was less that the 210
required.

Earlier on Tuesday, the monitoring mission accepted another 48
weapons from GAM.

"A total of 233 weapons were received, so we are well over the
target," Juri Laas, AMM spokesman, told AFP.

The group has so far surrendered 476 weapons -- or more than
half the 840 required under the peace deal -- to the monitoring
mission. All have been destroyed.

Under the peace agreement, the Indonesian Military must pull
out more than half its 60,000 troops from the province by
December, while GAM is required to surrender a total of 840
weapons.

GAM has dropped its demand for independence in return for a
form of local self-government. The government promised to
withdraw its non-local security forces, offer amnesties to rebels
and allow the creation of political parties in the province.

The peace process was restarted after last year's tsunami,
which killed over 130,000 people in Aceh alone.

The Indonesian Military has deployed at least 38,000 troops in
an attempt to crush the GAM separatists since the government
imposed martial law in the province in May 2003.

Foreign monitors were first deployed to Aceh under a cease-
fire agreement in 2002. However, the Cessation of Hostilities
Agreement was short-lived due to violations perpetrated by both
parties.

A few dozen unarmed monitors from Thailand and the Philippines
were forced to pull out amid escalating violence.

Martial law was declared five months later after the
separatists refused to surrender their arms and recognize
Jakarta's sovereignty over the province.

About 15,000 people have been killed in Aceh since GAM began
its struggle for Acehnese independence in 1976.