INDONESIA: Indonesia backtracked yesterday on its ruling that thousands of foreign troops and aid workers involved in the tsunami relief effort in Aceh would have to leave the province by the end of March.
After meeting America's deputy defence secretary, Mr Paul Wolfowitz, the defence minister, Mr Juwono Sudarsono, said the date was now a target for Indonesian officials to take over most of the work and not a deadline for foreigners' expulsion.
"We would like to emphasise that March 26th is not a deadline for involvement of foreign military personnel in the relief effort," Mr Sudarsono said. "It is a benchmark for the Indonesian government to improve and accelerate its relief efforts, so that by March 26th the large part of the burden of the relief effort will be carried by the Indonesian government and Indonesian authorities."
Several senior Indonesian officials, including the vice-president, Mr Jusuf Kalla, had said most foreign troops and aid workers would have to end their missions within three months of the December 26th tsunami that killed more than 115,000 people in Aceh and left some 700,000 dependent on aid.
Mr Sudarsono said he expected Indonesia's air force to have expanded its capacity within the next two months. Aircraft are at a premium because so many roads in Aceh have been destroyed, most notably the main road down the west coast of Sumatra.
Much of the work is being done by US, Australian, Malaysian, Singaporean and British aircraft because most of Indonesia's air force is moribund after years of economic crisis.
Indonesia's military chief, Gen Endriartono Sutarto, also dismissed the speculation about the expulsion of foreigners. He said the announcement was merely a "wake-up call" to Indonesians to work harder. "We have to be self-sufficient," he said.
Jakarta-based diplomats said they were not surprised by the U-turn, because restricting foreigners would have jeopardised future aid to Indonesia. Indonesia has announced it will send about 10,000 extra soldiers to Aceh this week and foreign troops are also continuing to arrive in the area.