Indonesia pulls troops out of Aceh

Indonesia pulled out more than 2000 troops from Aceh province on Saturday after the rebels handed over weapons as part of a peace deal to end 29 years of fighting, the province's military chief said.

Under a peace accord signed in August, separatist rebels agreed to hand over all of their self-declared 840 weapons by year's end, and the Government promised to withdraw 24,000 troops from the province.

The 2052 troops from two infantry battalions left Krueng Geukueh in Aceh on board two Navy warships that would take them to bases in West and Central Java provinces.