MSNBC.com, January 9, 2005 1:29 p.m. ET
Relief workers face danger in Indonesia
Shooting heard in city; death toll in 11 countries passes 150,000
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's military said Sunday that it had reports that
separatist rebels were infiltrating refugee camps in tsunami-stricken Aceh province
and warned relief workers to take extra care, the state news agency Antara reported.
The report, which gave no details, came hours after police in the provincial capital,
Banda Aceh, blamed the separatists for a burst of gunfire close to the main United
Nations compound in the town.
U.N. officials said they did not believe aid workers were targeted in the shooting, in
which no one was injured.
"Volunteer workers have been called to exercise more caution and understand that
Aceh is not like other regions in Indonesia. This is still a conflict-torn region," Antara
quoted local military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki as saying.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Indonesia's military will protect hundreds of
foreign troops engaged in the massive relief operation around Aceh and other areas of
Sumatra island.
"Indonesia's military headquarters has guaranteed the security of foreign troops
engaged in (the) humanitarian operation in Aceh from possible ... ambush," Antara
quoted him as saying.
Troops from countries including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia
and Singapore are distributing aid to hundreds of thousands of survivors of the Dec. 26
disaster in Aceh. More than 100,000 people in the region were killed by the
earthquake and tsunami.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north after
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed to a government request that he not visit
tsunami-stricken areas under Tamil rebel control.
Two weeks after walls of water flattened wide swaths of coastland around the Indian
Ocean, people were still emerging from isolated village and bodies were being pulled
from the mud and debris as the death toll in 11 countries in Africa and Asia passed
150,000.
Violence in tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka also raised security concerns. Christians and
Hindus clashed in the eastern part of the country where a massive aid effort is under
way, killing at least three people and injuring 37, although no relief workers were
injured in either incident.
Clashes between Hindus and Christians are rare since both groups belong the Tamil
minority and believe they are oppressed by the country's Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
Protest in Tamil city
Elsewhere, about 400 Sri Lankans gathered in a peaceful protest Sunday opposite the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees office in the predominantly Tamil city of Jaffna,
demanding that Annan visit the northern region to inspect damage caused by the
tsunami.
Annan said Sunday that he hoped it would not strain relations between the United
Nations and the rebel group.
"I'm hoping to come back and be able to visit all areas of the country, not only those
repaired, but also to celebrate peace," he said. "The U.N. is not here to take sides."
The Tigers, who have fought a 20-year war for a Tamil homeland, invited Annan to tour
the northern province. But government officials said they could not guarantee the U.N.
chief's safety.
Shooting downplayed
Indonesia downplayed the shooting, which took place near the home of a deputy
provincial police chief, saying there was no indication the gunfire targeted efforts to
feed the disaster's hungry and homeless.
"We don't believe that aid workers are targets," said Joel Boutroue, a U.N. relief
official in Aceh. "We were told by guards that it was probably one person shooting a
few rounds and that was it."
Indonesian officials regularly blame Free Aceh Movement rebels for shootings and
violence in Aceh, even if there is sometimes little evidence of their involvement.
The rebels have waged a separatist war in Aceh for nearly three decades. Thousands
have been killed. There was an unofficial truce after last month's disaster, which left
more than 100,000 dead in the province, but a series of recent skirmishes have
prompted Indonesia's military to step up patrols for the guerrillas.
Adding to security concerns is the appearance of Laskar Mujahidin, an extremist
group with alleged links to al-Qaida. The group, which has set up an aid camp, says it
is there to help and won't target foreigners, but its reassurances haven't dampened
concerns.
The U.S. military, which says it has about 150 service personnel on the ground in
Sumatra and 8,000 offshore, said aid workers must remain vigilant while working in
restive areas.
"Security is a constant planning factor in all that we do," U.S. Army aid coordinator
Maj. Nelson Chang said.
Relief workers soaked
Rain pounded relief workers Sunday, soaking the Banda Aceh airport and the
cardboard boxes of aid piled up on the tarmac. Scores of tents where aid workers and
soldiers camped had become a quagmire.
It's the middle of the rainy season in Indonesia and the pounding downpours could
further complicate a relief effort already hamstrung by damaged infrastructure,
including roads and bridges washed away.
Staggered by the scale of the disaster, aid officials said they may have to feed as
many as 2 million survivors a day for six months.
World leaders have been streaming into the region in an attempt to better assess the
needs of tens of thousands of people.
World governments, led by Australia and Germany, have pledged nearly $4 billion in
aid - the biggest relief package ever. The United States has pledged $350 million,
which President Bush called only an "initial commitment" and essentially a line of
credit that can be spent as American relief officials identify needs.
The World Bank said it will consider significantly boosting its aid, perhaps to as much
as $1.5 billion. It has already pledged $175 million in assistance, but bank President
James Wolfensohn said he was flexible.
"We can go up to even $1 billion to $1.5 billion, depending on the needs ... our
immediate focus is to provide relief to the affected people," he said at a news
conference.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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