Jakarta (AsiaNews/JP) GAM (Free Aceh Movement) members today started to hand their weapons to international observers, implementing a peace agreement which ended one of Asia's longest conflicts. The war claimed around 15,000 lives in three decades. Meanwhile, some 1,300 Indonesian policemen left the province yesterday.
The handover of weapons and the withdrawal of Indonesian forces are two of the key clauses of the agreement signed in Helsinki on 15 August.
"The two sides have a strong will to end the conflict," said National Police chief Gen. Sutanto. The agreement will also facilitate reconstruction in tsunami-devastated areas.
The withdrawal of troops and concurrent arms handover will be completed before the end of the year in four phases, under the gaze of European and southeast Asian observers.
There are more than 30,000 soldiers in Aceh, as well as about 15,000 police. The final withdrawal under the Helsinki accord will leave Aceh with around 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police. Meanwhile, 840 weapons will be handed over and destroyed, including 210 firearms within the coming three days.
The agreement could be derailed if troops fail to withdraw or if less arms than agreed are handed over.
Although Jakarta has declared itself satisfied with the number of weapons indicated, leaders of the House of Representatives and the national intelligence agency, who met behind closed doors, said the number of arms possessed by the rebels could be twice what was declared.
"We doubt that the real figure is just 840. So we called for a contingency plan," said Yuddy Chrisnandi, a member of the House of Representatives. The joint commission proposes the authorization of inspections by both sides to ensure the other's obligations either of weapons handover or of troop withdrawal.
"For example, we would be given access to GAM base camps to see if there are any weapons left, and the GAM would also have access to our military bases," continued Yuddy Chrisnandi.
A spokesman for the ex rebels, Irwandi Yusuf, said he felt "mixed feelings" because "we must have to let go of our heroes, the defenders of our dignity, our people and our land."
