LHOKSEUMAWE - Indonesian soldiers lugged guns and heavy bags up gangplanks Thursday as they completed the final phase of a troop reduction in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province — a key step in an accord with separatist rebels to end a 29-year war. The last of 24,000 troops pulled out on five Navy ships and a Hercules air carrier, just days after Free Aceh Movement rebels completed the handover of their weapons and disbanded their military wing.
Peace efforts picked up pace after an earthquake struck off Aceh’s coast one year ago, causing a tsunami that swept away 156,000 lives in the province and left a half-million others homeless. The rebels and the government decided they did not want to add to people’s suffering and reached a landmark agreement seven months later. The move was credited with helping smooth efforts to get relief to tsunami survivors.
Free Aceh Movement representative Irwandi Yusuf and Pieter Feith, head of the 240-strong European Union peace monitoring mission, were among the hundreds of people who gathered at the port to send off the nearly 3,800 soldiers — the last batch slated to leave under the deal.
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LHOKSEUMAWE - Indonesian soldiers lugged guns and heavy bags up gangplanks Thursday as they completed the final phase of a troop reduction in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province — a key step in an accord with separatist rebels to end a 29-year war. The last of 24,000 troops pulled out on five Navy ships and a Hercules air carrier, just days after Free Aceh Movement rebels completed the handover of their weapons and disbanded their military wing.
