Troop withdrawal complete

Troop withdrawal complete

Agencies, Banda Aceh, Aceh

The Indonesian Military (TNI) withdrew its final contingent of
non-local troops from Aceh on Thursday, a key step in a peace
pact that was propelled forward by the devastating tsunami one
year ago.

"The troops have pulled out... this is the final relocation,"
spokeswoman Faye Belnis from the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM)
told AFP, adding that troops had boarded departing ships.

Some 3,800 soldiers, carrying automatic rifles and heavy bags,
and singing marching songs, boarded five Navy vessels and a
Hercules air carrier in the port town of Lhokseumawe, just days
after Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels handed over all their
weapons and disbanded their military wing.

Hundreds of people attended a ceremony marking the completion
of the weapons decommissioning -- the most delicate phase of the
peace deal signed in August to end the bitter conflict that
killed nearly 15,000 people.

"We realize that lasting peace is the desire of all Acehnese.
Let us create a peaceful atmosphere and free the people of Aceh
from fear and danger, both physical and non-physical," said Aceh
military commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin Adi Saputra, who presided
over the ceremony.

"The flame of peace is burning and we must not let anyone
extinguish it," Supiadin told hundreds of Acehnese who assembled
to see the troops depart.

He said former GAM guerrillas had the same rights as the rest
of the population and urged them to take part in rebuilding the
province.

"All of the non-local troops are gone. We've closed our
offices," Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Eri Soetiko told AP.

Also attending Thursday's ceremony was AMM chief Pieter Feith
and GAM representatives. "Now GAM can use ballots, not bullets,
to fulfill their aspirations," said Feith.

"I'm very happy. I have missed my wife terribly," said Lt.
Anugerah, from the East Java city of Surabaya, who has been in
Aceh for eight months.

The final withdrawal of government security forces -- a
contingent of police reinforcements -- will take place on
Saturday.

Supiadin said the government had now pulled out 24,125
soldiers from Aceh under the Aug. 15 peace agreement.

He did not say how many were left, but once the last police
contingent goes, government forces in Aceh should be no more than
14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police.

For its part, GAM has handed over 840 weapons as required
under the peace accord.

The success of the weapons handover and the almost
simultaneous withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops and police
has surprised even optimists.

Security experts say the next challenges are finding jobs for
former GAM fighters and satisfying rebel demands for political
participation in Aceh.

Implementation of the pact, which is being overseen by 240
monitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the
European Union, has so far exceeded the expectations of the most
optimistic observers.

It was hammered out in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami,
which killed some 168,000 Acehnese and forced both sides to take
stock of their priorities.

GAM dropped its demand for independence in exchange for a form
of local government in Aceh, a province of more than four million
people. The government agreed to grant ex-fighters amnesty.

Former fighters have come down from Aceh's forested hills in
recent months and several rebel leaders have returned to their
homeland after more than 25 years of self-exile.

Some, however, have refused to come back because they are wary
the peace deal would collapse and that they would be arrested or
killed.

After a 2003 accord fell apart, the military kicked out
foreign observers and restarted combat operations against the
rebels.

Supiadin said on Thursday the military guaranteed the security
of all returning rebels.