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GUWAHATI, India, Tuesday (AFP) Hundreds of members of the Bodo tribe in India's northeastern state of Assam Tuesday took to the streets with drums and cymbals to celebrate a peace accord signed between a frontline militant group and the federal government in New Delhi.

"The mood is one of jubilation with people preparing victory rallies to celebrate the peace pact," A.K. Bhutani, district magistrate of Kokrajhar in western Assam, told AFP by telephone.

Kokrajhar, 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Assam's capital Guwahati, is the heartland of the ethnic Bodo tribe, where fighters of the rebel Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) have been fighting for an ethnic homeland.

"The celebrations began late Monday night with community feasting in most parts," Sali Brahma, a tribal chieftain said.

"We expect more than 30,000 people to gather in Kokrajhar to welcome the BLT leaders later in the day."

On Monday, leaders of the BLT signed a peace accord in New Delhi in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

The accord paved the way for the creation of a Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which would give more executive and legislative powers to the Bodos, who make up an estimated 1.6 million people of Assam's population of 26 million.

"The peace accord could be the beginning of a new era of hope and peace in Assam," Mainao Daimary, publicity chief of the BLT, told AFP.

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