Marines won’t set up camp; Paris Group offers to suspend debt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia announced that U.S. and other foreign troops providing tsunami disaster relief must leave the country by the end of March and ordered aid workers Wednesday to declare their travel plans or face expulsion from devastated Aceh province on Sumatra island.
The government’s moves highlight its sensitivities over a foreign military operation in this country — albeit a humanitarian one — and underscore its efforts to regain control of Aceh province, the scene of a decades-old conflict between separatist rebels and federal troops accused of human rights abuses.
In Paris, meanwhile, the world’s wealthiest nations said they supported a moratorium on debt repayments by countries stricken by the Dec. 26 disaster, which has killed more than 150,000 people.
The latest restrictions placed on the international presence came as the aircraft carrier leading the U.S. military’s tsunami relief effort steamed out of Indonesian waters Wednesday after the government declined to let the ship’s fighter pilots use its airspace for training missions. The USS Abraham Lincoln’s diversion was not expected to affect aid flights, however.
U.S. Marines have also scaled back their plans to send hundreds of troops ashore to build roads and clear rubble. The two sides reached a compromise in which the Americans agreed not to set up a base camp on Indonesia or carry weapons.
Instead, the Marines, about 2,000 of whom were diverted to tsunami relief from duty in Iraq, will keep a “minimal footprint” in the country, with most returning to ships at night, said Col. Tom Greenwood, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
U.S. seeks explanation
In Washington, the White House asked the Indonesian government to explain why it was demanding that the U.S. military and other foreign troops providing disaster relief leave the country by March 31.
“We’ve seen the reports. ... We’ll seek further clarification from Indonesia about what this means,” said Scott McClellan, press secretary to President Bush. “We hope that the government of Indonesia and the military in Indonesia will continue the strong support they have provided to the international relief efforts so far.”
In announcing the decision, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday that “a three-month period is enough, even sooner the better.”
Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi explained that Indonesia hoped to take over the humanitarian work by March 26, exactly three months after the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake set off waves across southern Asia and Africa that killed more than 150,000 people, two-thirds of them on Sumatra.
Starting Jan. 26, Indonesia will “gradually take over the role of foreign military and non-military assistance,” Silalahi said. By Feb. 26, he said, Indonesia’s role should be larger than that of the foreigners.