INDONESIA: Foreign troops helping with aid relief efforts in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province should leave by the end of March, the vice-president, Mr Jusuf Kalla, said yesterday.
Forces from Australia, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, China, Spain, Pakistan, Japan and Switzerland have scrambled to help with relief efforts in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, following the December 26th disaster.
More than 106,500 people were killed in Indonesia by the magnitude nine earthquake and ensuing tsunami, with almost all those deaths occurring in Aceh.
"Three months are enough. The sooner (they leave) the better," said Mr Kalla, quoted by the official Antara news agency, when asked how long foreign troops should stay in Aceh.
When asked about long-term relief efforts, he said: "We don't need foreign troops."
The issue of foreign troops is sensitive in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Their presence in Aceh, scene of a long-running separatist rebellion, has also raised some nationalist hackles.
Many Indonesians, however, have praised the helping hand. An editorial published on Tuesday by Aceh's only daily newspaper, Serambi Indonesia, tried to quell fears. "The presence of foreign parties in Aceh is purely based on the spirit of solidarity. To save human lives," it said.
"These things should be appreciated. We must not be suspicious. We are unable to do the things they are doing for us."
In Paris, Foreign Minister Mr Hassan Wirajuda dismissed suggestions that the request for foreign troops to leave by end of March meant Jakarta had something to hide. - (Reuters)
Joe Humphreys adds: The Dublin-based campaign group Afri, which has links with human rights groups in Aceh, has expressed concern about the Indonesian government's decision to impose travel restrictions on humanitarian workers and journalists in the disaster zone.
Afri's Ms Barbara O'Shea, a recent visitor to Aceh, said it feared the disaster would be used by the Indonesian military to launch a fresh offensive on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) - which has been fighting for independence since 1976.
"There is a concern that humanitarian assistance would be withheld from people who are seen to support GAM. The Indonesian military has a track record in this area of collective punishments, such as the burning of schools and markets," she said.
Afri is raising funds for indigenous groups working with tsunami victims in Aceh through an event at The Sugar Club, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin at 8 p.m. on Sunday, January 16th. Writers Roddy Doyle, Pat McCabe and Conor McPherson will be joined by surprise guests from music and arts. For tickets call Afri at (01) 882 7581.