Spanish FM arrives in Indonesia for talks on military aid

Spanish FM arrives in Indonesia for talks on military aid

Agencies, Jakarta

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos arrived on Wednesday in Indonesia where he was due to head to tsunami- devastated Aceh province to meet the country's president for talks on military aid.

Moratinos will meet Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Simeule island, off the northern tip of badly-hit Aceh province, officials here said.

The Spanish minister, who was originally due to meet Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Thursday, was expected to discuss a planned dispatch of a Spanish navy vessel and 650 troops to Indonesia.

On Wednesday Kalla gave a three-month withdrawal deadline for foreign troops saying they should leave "the sooner 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.