Indonesia wants foreign troops withdrawn

Cindy Sui, Banda Aceh

Indonesian Vice-President Yusuf Kalla said foreign troops should leave tsunami-hit Aceh province on Sumatra island as soon as they finish their relief mission, staying no longer than three months.

The armed forces of Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the US have all rushed task forces to Aceh in the wake of the December 26 disaster which killed at least 106,500 Indonesians out of a total of more than 159,000 deaths in Asia.

United Nations officials struggling to co-ordinate a massive relief operation have welcomed their participation, particularly to deliver aid to isolated coastlines accessible only by sea or air.

However, their presence in Indonesian territory has been a sensitive issue for the world’s largest Muslim-populated nation which has traditionally kept foreign military, particularly the US and Australia, at arm’s length.

The vice-president said Aceh in the near future would need foreign medical workers and engineers instead of military assistance.

Mr Kalla’s comments came after the country’s military imposed sweeping new restrictions on foreign relief workers operating in Aceh, claiming they were in danger from rebels waging a long-running separatist war. However, an Indonesian doctor, whose ordeal at the hands of rebels has been used to justify the government restrictions, disputed the official version of the incident. Mulia Hasyimi, head of Aceh’s health office, confirmed he was seized by the rebels, but told AFP he was not shot and his time in captivity lasted less than an hour, contrary to government claims he was held for several days and shot.

Senior officials said foreign journalists would also be confined to major towns in the province, closing a post-disaster window of press freedom in the region which was locked down almost two years ago during a military offensive.

Indonesian troops have already begun accompanying UN missions to help victims of the tsunami and liaison officers are to be posted on the scores of foreign navy ships and military and civilian aircraft bringing in thousands of tonnes of emergency supplies.

Despite statements from Free Aceh Movement rebels, known as GAM, pledging the safety of volunteers, Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab said the government was concerned attacks on aid staff could scare off foreign assistance.

Meanwhile, only a handful of tsunami-hit countries have accepted an offer of to suspend billions of euro in debt repayments, it was revealed today.

Thailand will reject the proposal in an effort to retain its “standing in the international financial markets”, said French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles were the lone three nations expected to accept the offer made by the Paris Club of creditors, who met in Paris yesterday.

Thailand, which with Indonesia and Sri Lanka owes 36 billion, has turned down the moratorium “simply because they have lower debt levels than the others”, said Mr Gaymard.

France and the other 20 industrialised nations within the Paris Club, which includes the US, Britain and Ireland, regard the moratorium as “completely indispensable” and a “vital breath of oxygen” in helping Asia’s tsunami victims recover, Mr Gaymard said.

Indonesia suggested that cash aid was more useful than the moratorium.