The pact signed in August in Helsinki was aimed at ending nearly three decades of bloodshed that led to some 15,000 deaths, mostly civilians.

"The troops have pulled out...this is the final relocation," spokeswoman Faye Belnis from the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) told AFP, adding that troops had boarded ships that would depart later Thursday.

Aceh military commander Supaidin Adi Saputra presided over a ceremony to farewell more than 2,000 troops from the North Acehnese port of Krueng Geukeuh. The personnel boarded at least five warships.

"We realize that eternal peace is the desire of all Acehnese. Let us create a peaceful atmosphere and free the people of Aceh from fear and danger, both physical and non-physical," he said.

"The flame of peace is burning and we must not let anyone extinguish it," Saputra told hundreds of Acehnese who assembled to see the troops depart.

He said former separatist rebels had the same rights as the rest of the population and urged them to take part in rebuilding the province.

On hand for Thursday's ceremony was Irwandi Yusuf, a representative of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), as well as AMM chief Pieter Feith.

The AMM's Belnis said a total of 25,154 troops had now been tallied as departing since August from Aceh, a province at the westernmost tip of Sumatra which has been racked by separatist conflict since 1976.

The soldiers carried knapsacks and weapons and sang marching songs as they boarded the ships.

Implementation of the pact, which is being overseen by 240 monitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union, has so far exceeded the expectations of the most optimistic observers.

It was hammered out in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami, which killed some 168,000 Acehnese and forced both sides to take stock of their priorities.

GAM dropped its demand for independence in exchange for a form of local government in Aceh, a province of more than four million people. The government agreed to grant ex-fighters amnesties.

GAM handed over its declared arsenal of 840 weapons for destruction and this week dissolved its military wing.

Former guerrillas are now faced with the task of turning themselves into political players with elections slated for April.

GAM representative Yusuf on Tuesday asked that the AMM, which is due to withdraw in March, stay on during this next phase, which he said would be "tricky and difficult."

The peace agreement stipulates that only 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police, all locally recruited, are to remain in Aceh.

Belnis said the final figure for the troops being pulled out Thursday was still being discussed with the military, since based on a speech by Aceh's military commander, 2,564 had departed.

Earlier the military had said 3,353 would be leaving.

The spokeswoman also said that 2,150 non-local police would be withdrawn on Saturday.

Under the terms of the peace agreement, all non-local troops and police should be withdrawn by the end of the year.

Indonesia also announced Thursday it would fill its post of ambassador to Sweden after leaving it vacant for a year to protest against Stockholm's failure to take action against exiled Aceh separatist leaders.

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