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.