Jakarta – The armed forces promised Friday to begin removing troops from Aceh province, where the military has been accused of killing thousands of people suspected of being separatists in the last decade. The defense minister and armed forces commander, Gen. Wiranto, made a half-day visit to Aceh, the country's westernmost province, 1,000 miles from the capital, in an bid to calm public outrage over decades of military repression under the former government of President Suharto.

"I give one month at the latest for all troops that are not based in the region to be withdrawn and returned to their respective bases," Wiranto was quoted as saying on the state television from the town of Lhokseumawe on the northern coast. He did not say how many troops were stationed in the province of 170,000 people, on the northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia's largest island.

Wiranto apologized on behalf of the military for the actions of any soldiers whose "excesses may have caused any harm to the people."

The military's special forces unit, Kopassus, has been implicated in many of the disappearances by widows and other relatives who have broken their silence since the resignation of Suharto on May 21. Three high-ranking Kopassus officers, including a Suharto son-in-law, Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, were suspended this week and are being questioned about the disappearance of dozens of anti-Suharto activists in the capital, 14 of whom are still missing.

The head of the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, welcomed the military's apology but said it smacked of politics more than progress. "It's too fast to judge if this attitude is anything more than political," said Munir, the head of the group. "The troop withdrawal is important, but the status of the province as a military operational region has to be changed," added Munir, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. He plans to visit the province next week, ahead of plans by human rights groups to begin digging at the suspected burial sites.