Indonesian gov't withdraws more troops from Aceh

The Indonesian government withdrew 573 more non-organic military troops from Aceh on Friday in accordance with a clause in the peace agreement it signed with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki last month.

The departure of the troops constituted the fourth batch of government forces to leave Aceh in the first phase of the government's military withdrawal scheme, Antara news agency reported.

Three armored vehicles were also shipped out along with the soldiers.

The first-stage withdrawal of non-organic personnel must be completed on September 25 and involve 6,000 out of the 25,000 non- organic government soldiers stationed in Aceh.

With the withdrawal of 573 personnel on Friday, the number of non-organic personnel already withdrawn so far reached around 5, 806.

The withdrawal followed the handing over and destruction of 25 percent of GAM weapons recently. Under the Helsinki peace deal the government also has to withdraw 25 percent of its non-organic personnel from Aceh.

Source: Xinhua