U.S. national deported

JAKARTA (DPA): Indonesian authorities have deported a U.S. national for possessing pornographic pictures and working in the country without proper permit.

Jack Gilbert West, 50, was deported Wednesday to Singapore aboard a state-run Merpati airplane, and "it is up to him to go anywhere at his own expense", said an Indonesian immigration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

West was arrested on Jan. 31 for possession of pornographic pictures, some of them showing oral sex. The immigration official said West had been working for years as an English teacher in Jakarta without license.

Prior to his deportation, West went on hunger strike to protest his detention.

In a letter to The Jakarta Post, West said such pictures "would not raise an eyebrow in any Western country".

West had lived in Indonesia for several years and left the country periodically to get new tourist visas from Indonesia's embassy in Singapore. He is married to an Indonesian woman and they have two children, the immigration office said.