UN issues travel restrictions for staffers to Aceh

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The United Nations has issued a temporary travel ban for foreign staffers to the Indonesian province of Aceh because of ongoing police operations there against Islamist militants, a spokesman said Friday.

Police have shot dead seven suspected militants in Aceh and the main Indonesian island of Java since late February when they launched raids against a militant training camp in Aceh.

The travel restriction does not apply to Indonesian staff and will stay in place until the situation has stabilized, U.N. spokesman Michele Zaccheo told The Associated Press via telephone. Foreign staffers already based in Aceh have not been told to leave but additional U.N. workers will not be allowed to travel there, he said.

"This is a temporary security measure while national police operations are ongoing, and it is currently limited to travel by international staff," Zaccheo said.

U.N. personnel working in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh are following basic precautions, such as limiting their travel outside the city to essential journeys, he said. There are 300 U.N. staffers in Aceh, with foreigners accounting for about 10 percent.

The U.N. workers are in Aceh to help the province rebuild after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit in 2004.

Associated Press