LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia, 30 December 2005 — Indonesian soldiers lugged guns and heavy bags up gangplanks yesterday 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 bitter 29-year war.

The last of 24,000 troops pulled out of port 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 a massive 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 returned to the negotiating table, hammering out a landmark agreement seven months later.

Hundreds of people turned up at the port in northern Aceh yesterday to wave off nearly 3,800 soldiers — the last batch slated to leave under the deal, including Free Aceh Movement representative Irwandi Yusuf and Pieter Feith, head of the 240-strong EU peace monitoring mission.

Yusuf said he hoped the province of 4 million people would never again be gripped by violence.

“I hope this really means peace is at hand,” he said, adding that the former insurgents were looking forward to taking part in local elections next year.

Both sides made major concessions.

The rebels agreed to hand over all of their self-declared 840 weapons and gave up their long-held demand for independence.

The government vowed to withdraw more than half of its nearly 50,000 garrison from Aceh and to give the region limited self-government and control over much of the oil- and gas-rich province’s mineral wealth.

So far, the deal has stuck with the help of international peace monitors, who said yesterday the former rebels could now shift their focus on politics with the local elections next year, instead of war.

“Now GAM can use ballots, not bullets, to fulfill their aspirations,” said Feith, referring to the Free Aceh Movement by its Indonesian acronym.

Former fighters have come down from Aceh’s forested hills in recent months and several rebel leaders have returned to their homeland after more than 25 years of self-exile.

Aceh’s military commander, Maj. Gen. Supiadin, yesterday guaranteed the security of all returning rebels.

“We welcome GAM leaders who want to come home,” he said, singling out the group’s top exiled leader in Sweden, Hasan Tiro. “We’d consider his presence in Aceh as a commitment for peace.”