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Aceh rebels set to hand over weapons under accord
Former rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province start handing in guns to foreign monitors on Thursday, launching one of the most important elements of a peace deal that ended 30 years of civil war. Monitors from Europe and Southeast Asia will take 200 reporters in buses to a location still being kept secret in the Aceh Besar regency to witness the weapons handover at around midday (0500 GMT). The guns will then be cut into pieces by electric saws. The accord was signed in Helsinki on August 15, raising hopes among Aceh's four million people -- still suffering from last December's devastating tsunami -- that they could finally live in peace after a conflict that killed 15,000 people.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is expected to hand over some 210 weapons during the next three days at separate locations. It has said that number comprises a quarter of its arsenal. The rest will be given up in three later stages before the end of the year. Indonesia's government has said the military was comfortable with the number of weapons that GAM has stated as the arsenal held by 3,000 active rebels.
The final withdrawal under the Helsinki accord will leave Aceh with 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police. Some 1,300 police left Aceh on Wednesday, a day ahead of the weapons handover, in what the police said was a goodwill gesture. The rebels and the government were pushed back to the negotiating table after a massive earthquake and tsunami on December 26 left 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh. Officials expect the deal to help reconstruction in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. One monitor from the 230-member Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) has said GAM weapons would be destroyed immediately once they were handed over. In return for laying down their arms, laws will be changed to allow rebels to form a political party after they earlier gave up demands for independence. Former fighters will also be given land and help with re-integrating into society. Indonesia has already freed hundreds of GAM prisoners under a sweeping amnesty. In total, 2,000 GAM members are expected to be released, although the number so far freed is not clear. Besides Aceh, a long running rebellion has simmered in remote Papua province in Indonesia's east for decades.
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