Indonesia withdraws last Aceh police personnel
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-05 16:54

Indonesia finally withdrew its last police reinforcements from Aceh province on Thursday under a landmark peace deal after problems finding ships to return them to their home bases.

The withdrawal marked the final stage in a pullout of tens of thousands of Indonesian soldiers and police reinforcements from Aceh under the peace agreement between rebels and government forces.

Indonesian policemen board a navy ship at Krueng Geukeuh port in Lhokseumawe January 5, 2006. Indonesia finally withdrew its last police reinforcements from Aceh province under a landmark peace deal on Thursday after nearly a week of delay due to problems getting transportation to return them to their home bases.[Reuters]

On Thursday, 2,150 policemen jostled to board a warship in the port city of Lhokseumawe after nearly a week stuck in a port compound. The ship is due to leave Lhokseumawe at 2 p.m. (0700 GMT).

"We have been in limbo for days. The situation has been getting too uncertain," said policeman Budi Susanto before joining the rush to board the vessel.

Lhokseumawe police chief Mulyatno said the last withdrawal left around 9,000 policemen in Aceh.

An Indonesian policeman carries the head of a deer as he boards a navy ship at Krueng Geukeuh port in Lhokseumawe January 5, 2006.[Reuters]

The Finnish-mediated peace deal ended nearly 30 years of war that took some 15,000 lives, most of them civilian, in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

The agreement was signed in August after talks between the two sides accelerated following last December's tsunami, which left 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh.

The August 15 truce requires Indonesia to cut troop and police levels in Aceh to no more than 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police. Before the pact, it had more than 35,000 soldiers and 15,000 police in the province.

The Free Aceh Movement finished its weapons handover earlier this month.

With the handover now complete and troop withdrawals concluded, security experts say the next challenges are finding jobs for demobilised fighters and satisfying rebel demands for political participation in Aceh.