TNI set for second Aceh pullout

TNI set for second Aceh pullout

Reuters, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) will begin withdrawing 6,000
more soldiers from Aceh this week under the second phase of a
landmark peace pact ending one of Asia's longest conflicts, a
spokesman said on Monday.

Aceh military spokesman Erie Soetiko said 650 troops would
leave the province on Tuesday, the same day the armed forces
expect former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to complete
the second phase of its weapons handover.

The three-decade insurgency on the northern tip of Sumatra
island has killed 15,000 people, mostly civilians. The two sides
were pushed back to peace talks in the wake of a massive tsunami
on Dec. 26 that left around 170,000 Acehnese dead or missing.

"In total in the second phase we will withdraw another 10
battalions, or around 6,000 people," Erie said.

Troops on Tuesday would leave from the port town of
Lhokseumawe and the second phase should be finished by Oct. 24,
he said. Among those going will be units from the army's feared
Kopassus special forces.

Former rebels began handing over weapons to foreign monitors
on Friday under the second stage of arms decommissioning.

Faye Belnis, a spokeswoman for the Aceh Monitoring Mission
(AMM), said the second phase would be finished this week,
although she did not say when. She said while GAM had handed in
235 weapons, some 50 had been disqualified for not meeting agreed
criteria.

"We are hoping to do another session this week," she said.

The first round of decommissioning of GAM weapons in September
yielded some 240 arms, while the government pulled out 1,500
policemen and around 6,500 soldiers.

Under the Finnish-mediated peace agreement, GAM needs to
surrender 840 weapons to peace monitors by year-end during four
phases. Indonesia, which had more than 30,000 soldiers and 15,000
policemen in Aceh before the truce, is required to trim its
forces to no more than 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police.

Once handed over, GAM weapons are destroyed.
The 226-strong unarmed monitoring mission comprising European and
Southeast Asian monitors has the task of ensuring parties stick
to the Aug. 15 peace agreement signed in Helsinki.