About 800 Indonesian troops set sail from tsunami-battered Aceh Province Sunday, honouring a key element of the peace deal to end one of Southeast Asia's longest-running conflicts.

The troops the first of some 30,000 due to withdraw before the end of the year chanted as they marched aboard a ship, carrying bags and automatic weapons.

Some waved their helmets in the air after boarding the vessel, which departed for the city of Medan on Sumatra Island, said Lieutenant Colonel Eri Soetiko, a local military commander.

"I have been here 18 months, most of which I have spent in the jungle," said Private Gatot Broto as he boarded. "I am just very happy to go home."

A peace agreement signed last month in Finland between the government and Acehnese rebels is seen as Aceh's best chance in years to permanently end three decades of fighting that has killed nearly 15,000 people.

Earlier this week, rebels from the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, surrendered more than a quarter of their 840 weapons to EU and Southeast Asian peace monitors, with the remainder to be handed over by December 31.

Sunday's troop withdrawal marked the official beginning of the first phase in a gradual reduction of military and police units, linked to the decommissioning process, in the region.

About 1,000 troops left Aceh last month as a goodwill gesture.

Some 6,000 troops are slated to leave in the next few weeks, and another 24,000 in the months that follow. About 25,000 will remain behind.

"The war with GAM is now over and I am looking forward to seeing my family," said another solider, Private Suhardi. "If we are told to leave, we leave. If we are told to go to war, then we have to wage war."

The withdrawal was witnessed by members of the monitoring mission and Irwandi Yusuf, a key member of the rebels' political wing.

The speed that both sides have implemented the accord pleased observers, but the government has raised questions about the quality of some of the firearms many of which appeared to be old or crude homemade guns that the rebels are handing in.

Efforts to end the conflict in Aceh picked up pace after the December 26 earthquake and tsunami struck the area, killing 131,000 people in Aceh and leaving half a million others homeless.

The rebels and the Indonesian Government returned to the negotiating table, saying they did not want to add to people's suffering or hamper the international relief effort in the region.

The rebels gave up their long-held demand for independence and the government agreed to give the region limited self-government and allow former insurgents to form a political party.

Source: China Daily