Banda Aceh – Government troops and rebels in Aceh are both guilty of serious breaches of a recent peace deal, the Swiss-based group mediating the conflict between the two sides said yesterday.

"It is clear and without any doubt in my mind that these cases constitute violations," said Major-General Tanongsuk Tuvinun, senior envoy for Geneva-based Henri Dunant Centre.

Government troops were behind two killings and a shooting in January which violated the agreement, while guerillas were responsible for an attack in December, he said.

Earlier, the Indonesian military threatened to withdraw from the pact if separatist rebels keep attacking soldiers.

Bodies have been discovered regularly since the December 9 signing of the deal, but generally the agreement has reduced the amount of violence in the region and has been deemed a success by foreign peace monitors.

The rebels have agreed to hand over their weapons during the next five months, while the Indonesian military said they would move into defensive positions.

Meanwhile, villagers in Aceh unearthed a badly mutilated body of a government soldier, said deputy chief of operational command Bambang Darmono.

The dead soldier, identified as Sujari, was reported missing on February 10, a day after rebels said they had started to disarm as part of a recent peace agreement.

"From the information we have gathered, there is a strong indication that the rebels were responsible," said Brigadier-General Pramono.

The insurgents began fighting in 1976 for an independent state in the oil-and-gas rich region, 1,800 km north-west of Jakarta. About 12,000 people have been killed in the past decade.