Jerry Norton, Banda Aceh – Former rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province began handing in guns to foreign monitors on Thursday under a landmark peace agreement, but differences emerged over what weapons counted under the deal.

The weapons handover is one of the most important elements of the accord that ended 30 years of conflict in Aceh. Some 15,000 people, mainly civilians, were killed in the war.

Wearing jeans and T-shirts, former fighters of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) arrived at a field in the provincial capital Banda Aceh in a convoy of vehicles and promptly pulled out a range of automatic weapons, rifles and pistols from white sacks.

What appeared to be at least one shoulder-fired rocket launcher and two grenade launchers were also given up as part of the first stage of decommissioning.

"I feel sad. It's like handing over my wife," said former GAM member Muzakir, 30, after handing in his aging rifle. "For me, she is like my wife because I sleep with her. I also am happy because I want to see Aceh like it was, at peace."

At a news conference, GAM representative Irwandi Yusuf said 78 weapons had been handed in. He also disagreed with Information Minister Sofyan Djalil about the type of weapons that counted toward a total target of 840 to be handed in by December. Djalil said the agreement covered only guns made by regular manufacturers but Yusuf said it also included homemade guns.

Pieter Feith, head of the European-led Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), avoided specifically endorsing either view, saying only that weapons had to have a steel chamber, steel barrel and be able to fire a shot. The signed Aceh peace accord is not clear on the issue.

Despite that unresolved difference, all three officials praised the handover as a vital step. "This is a monumental day for the better future of Aceh and the better future of Indonesia," Yusuf said.

At the handover earlier, GAM members held up weapons to a crowd of 200 journalists before turning them in. Monitors checked them for ammunition and removed magazines before using electric saws to cut them up.

The August 15 accord has raised hopes among Aceh's four million people on the northern tip of Sumatra island – still suffering from last December's devastating tsunami – that they could finally live in peace.

But disputes over GAM disarmament have helped scuttle previous peace deals, the most recent in 2003. "This is a test of trust-building," said Kusnanto Anggoro, a prominent defense analyst in Jakarta.

In return for laying down their arms, laws will be changed to allow GAM to form a political party after they earlier gave up demands for independence. Former fighters will also be given land and help with re-integrating into society.

Questions over arsenal

GAM is expected to hand in 210 weapons during the next three days. It has said some 3,000 rebels have 840 guns. The rest will be given up in three later stages before the end of the year.

Indonesia's government has said the military was comfortable with the number of weapons that GAM has stated as its arsenal.

Yusuf said the total figure reflected a GAM count of all its weapons, and those turned in on Thursday were all it had in the greater Banda Aceh area.

Anggoro said he believed the total number could be two to three times higher, possibly held by GAM splinter groups. Monitors said 840 was agreed by both sides.

Jakarta will withdraw troop and police reinforcements roughly simultaneously over the four stages of the decommissioning, eventually cutting security forces in Aceh in half.

The final withdrawal under the Helsinki accord will leave Aceh with 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police. Some 1,300 police left Aceh on Wednesday.

The rebels and the government were pushed back to the negotiating table after a massive earthquake and tsunami on December 26 left 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh.

Anggoro was positive about prospects for a lasting peace. "First, internally GAM is not as strong as before. Secondly, the tsunami had a huge effect on the need for a lasting truce. I think international pressure is much heavier now," he said.

(With additional reporting by Ade Mardiyaty in Banda Aceh and Achmad Sukarsono and Ade Rina in Jakarta)