(4 Mar 1997) Spanish/Nat
Thirty Guatemalan guerrillas have handed over their weapons to observers from the United Nations in the first official disarmament after the end of the civil war.
Observers are scheduled to verify that federal troops have cleared out of six areas throughout the country where over three-thousand rebels are beginning to gather into eight camps.
The rebels and the government signed the final peace accord in the capital on December 29.
Guatemalans are marking an important milestone in the ongoing peace process that's ending Central America's longest conflict.
On Monday thirty guerrillas handed over their weapons to U-N observers here in this tropical cattle ranch on the coastal plain about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital.
It was the first official disarmament after the signing of the peace accords in December 29.
A December 4 ceasefire calls for the rebels to congregate in eight camps by March 14 and to start laying down their arms on March 24.
But a rebel commander said Monday's goodwill gesture is intended to show faith in the accords and prevent theft of the weapons.
About 30 of the 175 guerrillas who have gathered here so far lined up in front of a table where members of the U-N mission of military observers registered their names and weapons and sent them to another part of the camp.
For the rebels, the time has come to re-integrate into normal life.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"My decision was to stay here and prepare for civilian life."
SUPER CAPTION: Comandante Gerardo Lopez, former rebel
The weapons will be locked up in special containers while the two sides decide what to do with them.
The United Nations has sent 155 military experts to observe the disarmament and demobilization of the guerrillas as well as the compliance of other military aspects of the accords.
Monday's ceremony honoured the thousands of victims of the 36-year-old war.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We are remembering today the huge price paid by men and women involved in the conflict - from the army as well as the guerrillas - and the huge sacrifice of Guatemalan society."
SUPER CAPTION: Jean Arnold, Chief of UN Mission in Guatemala
Despite the reservations of some Guatemalans, officials say they expect to avoid some of the problems faced during demobilization after the end of the civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
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