Foreigners restricted from entering Aceh

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government issued on Tuesday a decree that restricts foreigners from traveling to the war-torn province of Aceh.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the decree, which came into effect immediately after President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed it on Monday, was aimed at preventing foreigners from becoming victims of the conflict in Aceh, which is currently under martial law.

"The decree restricts foreigners from traveling to Aceh during the duration of martial law for the sake of their safety. In regard to foreign non-governmental organization activists and journalists, we will only supervise their presence in the province, because we want to promote transparency in the ongoing integrated operation there," Susilo told the media.

The decree states that foreigners must secure a permit from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights should they insist on traveling to the restive province. NGO activists must obtain a permit from the Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare while journalists, including locals working as correspondents for foreign media, need to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A spokesman with the foreign ministry, M. Wahid Supriyadi, said that the ministry would limit freelance journalists covering the war in Aceh, starting from Tuesday.

"All foreign journalists have to obtain a permit from the ministry before leaving for Aceh. The permit will be valid for 30 days and be extendible for another 30 days," Wahid said.

The restriction came after two German tourists were shot, one of them fatally, two weeks ago and an American freelance journalist, William Nessen, was found last week to be covering the war from the rebels' side without notification to the government.