Spanish FM arrives in Indonesia for talks on military aid

Spanish FM arrives in Indonesia for talks on military aid

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos arrived in
Jakarta on Wednesday and will head on Thursday to tsunami-
devastated Aceh province to meet the President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono for talks on military aid.

Susilo left Jakarta on Wednesday for Aceh and North Sumatra
provinces.

The Spanish minister met Vice President Jusuf Kalla on
Wednesday and discussed the planned dispatch of a Spanish navy
vessel and 650 troops to Indonesia, the Spanish Embassy in
Jakarta informed The Jakarta Post.

On Wednesday, Kalla gave a deadline of three months for the
withdrawal of foreign troops, saying the sooner they left, the
better.

Forces from Australia, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia,
Germany, China, India, Spain, Pakistan, Japan and Switzerland
have scrambled to help with relief efforts in Aceh, on the
northern tip of Sumatra island, following the Dec. 26 disaster.

More than 106,500 people were killed in Indonesia by the
magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, with almost all those
deaths occurring in Aceh. Around the Indian Ocean the death toll
from the disaster stands at more than 158,000.

"Three months are enough. The sooner (they leave) the better,"
said Kalla, quoted by the official Antara news agency, when asked
how long should foreign troops should stay in Aceh.

When asked about long-term relief efforts, he said: "We don't
need foreign troops."

The issue of foreign troops is sensitive in Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation. Their presence in Aceh,
scene of a long-running separatist rebellion, has also raised
some nationalist hackles.

Many Indonesians, however, have praised the helping hand.