Indonesia delays US navy aid mission
By David Ibison, Jake Lloyd-Smith in Banda Aceh and agencies
Published: January 9 2005 21:41 | Last updated: January 10 2005 03:09

Aceh locator mapA US plan to use navy landing craft to deploy about 1,000 marines on the tsunami-stricken west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province has been delayed because of Indonesian concern that it might resemble an invasion, senior US military officials have said.

Aceh has been under effective Indonesian military control due to a long-running separatist insurgency and has been closed to foreigners. But it now has a US aircraft carrier moored off its coast and foreign troops and aircraft operating out of its main airport.

The USS Bonhomme Richard, a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, is positioned off Meulaboh, a town that according to the United Nations was 80 per cent destroyed by the tsunamis. About 20,000 people, half of its former population, were killed in the disaster.

The dispute over the use of landing craft illustrates the delicacy of the US relief mission in Aceh. The image of US landing craft heading for the Acehnese coast could touch a raw nerve with the proud and suspicious Indonesian military.

Major Rick Steele of the US navy said the US had planned to deploy the marines at the weeekend to help provide water purification services, reconstruct power lines, restore hospitals, repair roads and rebuild bridges as well as providing other basic aid.

The main road between the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh has been severed, slowing the aid operation. Major Steele said the US was unable to proceed with the operations until it received an official request from the Indonesian military.

“We are only doing what the Indonesian government lets us do. They teach at their military schools here that the way the US takes over countries is by moving in,” he said.

Colonel Achmad Yani Batulin, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, said there were concerns over the security of any foreign forces operating in Aceh because separatists could disguise themselves as regular Indonesian troops.

Aid agencies said that with many people in Meulaboh in dire need of aid and shelter, and the risk of disease growing, a quick humanitarian response was essential.

Colonel David Kelley, in charge of US liaison with the Indonesian military, said: “ The Indonesians have to make a call. These marines that are here are not going to be here forever.”

He added that negotiations were continuing and the issue could be resolved as soon as Monday. Aid agencies, however, hinted that the military could have other motives in ensuring the area remains free of US military personnel.

Aid has been reaching Meulaboh by air, but one senior agency official said: “We've had some reports of TNI [the Indonesian army] hoarding supplies up to 30 per cent in some places.”

Meanwhile, US aid helicopters to Aceh were suspended on Monday after a Seahawk helicopter crashed near the Banda Aceh airport in the morning.

“Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the form of helicopter deliveries of essential supplies has temporarily and indefinitely been suspended,” said Lieutenant-Commander John Bernard, based on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Reuters reported. No one was killed in the crash.

Helicopters have been an important part of the aid effort in Aceh as they are frequently the only mode of transport which can access remote villages hit by the tsunamis.