Around 800 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers left Aceh Sunday as the mass withdrawal of reinforcement troops from the province agreed under a recent peace deal, a local newspaper reported Monday.

The troops, from two infantry battalions, set sail from Krueng Geukueh port in Lhokseumawe aboard the KRI Teluk Sampit naval vessel after six months of duty in the province, reported The Jakarta Post.

Iskandar Muda Military Commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin said that about 6,000 troops from 11 battalions would be pulled out of the province in the coming week as part of the peace agreement signed in Helsinki on Aug. 18.

The withdrawal of the troops will take place in four stages that must be completed by Dec. 31, while the Free Aceh Movement ( GAM) must simultaneously surrender 840 weapons.

Over the past few days, GAM has surrendered 279 weapons to the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), but 30 of them were rejected for failing to meet the agreed standards and 23 others are still being verified.

"This is a good start to the peace process," AMM chief Pieter Feith said after witnessing the pullout of the troops.

Sunday's troop withdrawal followed the departure of some 1,300 troopers from the police's paramilitary Mobile Brigade on Wednesday.

As a goodwill gesture, the TNI had earlier withdrawn around 1, 200 troops from Aceh a few days after the Indonesian government and GAM hammered out the peace accord.

European Union and Southeast Asian monitors grouped in the AMM are overseeing the withdrawal of some 25,000 TNI soldiers and 5, 000 police personnel from Aceh, the disarmament of GAM and further steps to create lasting peace in the province, where 15,000 people have died in three decades of armed conflict.

Two previous peace agreements were short-lived.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, however, expressed satisfaction with GAM for showing its commitment to the peace agreement.

"We thank GAM and feel surprised by their moves to comply with the peace accord," Endriartono said after attending a gathering of military and police retirees in Jakarta on Saturday.

But he warned GAM against displaying or possessing weapons after the disarmament process finishes at the end of the year.

"If that happens, the TNI will take the necessary legal measures against them," Endriartono said.

Efforts to end the conflict in Aceh picked up pace after the Dec. 26 tsunami swept the province, killing some 130,000 people and leaving a half million others homeless in the province.

Source: Xinhua