Jakarta – Indonesia said Saturday it will withdraw controversial British-made Scorpion light tanks from Aceh province and replace them with a locally-produced model.

The move has nothing to do with British concerns over the use of Scorpions in Aceh, where troops are conducting a major offensive against separatist rebels, Colonel Nachrowi, an Indonesian military spokesman, told AFP.

"True there is a plan to replace Scorpions that we are using for supporting the operation in Aceh," Nachrowi said.

He said 14 armoured vehicles produced by the Indonesian weapons manufacturer PT Pindad will leave from Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port for Aceh on Monday. "It's a new product," he said.

Nachrowi declined to say how many Scorpions would be withdrawn but said he believed none would eventually remain in the province where Indonesia last May launched an all-out offensive against Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien visited Indonesia on June 3-4 to remind the Indonesian government "of their assurances that they would not use British built military equipment offensively or in violation of human rights," he told the British Parliament after the visit.

"We are actively monitoring compliance with these assurances, with care," he said following Indonesia's June 23 announcement that 36 Scorpions had been deployed in Aceh to defend roads against attack by GAM.

Indonesia's army commander, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, said at the time that Indonesia had the right to use the Scorpions in Aceh.

Nachrowi said the troops manning the Scorpions were reaching the end of their tour in Aceh, as the country was capable of producing its own military vehicles.

During O'Brien's June visit, Indonesia also rejected British appeals not to use British-made Hawk aircraft during the offensive.

Britain's Guardian newspaper had reported the Indonesian military flew four Hawks on the first day of its Aceh operation as close protection for Hercules transport planes. They did not mount attacks.

In a report last month Human Rights Watch accused the Indonesian military of pursuing a campaign of killings, kidnappings and beatings of civilians in Aceh, where GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976.

Acehnese refugees interviewed in Malaysia said Indonesian security forces were guilty of gross human rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions, forced disappearences, beatings and arbitrary arrests, said the report. Indonesia's foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as baseless.

The military says more than 1,200 guerrillas have been killed and more than 2,000 have been captured or surrendered during the eight-month operation.