Tsunami relief workers put on terrorism alert

INDONESIA: Denmark warned yesterday that it had received information that international aid workers faced possible terror attacks…

INDONESIA: Denmark warned yesterday that it had received information that international aid workers faced possible terror attacks in Indonesia's Aceh province, an area devastated by the tsunami.

"We have received information from sources abroad that somebody would be planning an attack today," Danish foreign ministry official Mr Niels Erik Andersen told national public service broadcaster DR.

Earlier, the ministry said in a statement it had "received information that imminent terror attacks are being planned against foreign rescue workers" in Aceh. It did not elaborate on the nature of the threat or the origin of the information.

A Danish aid worker in Aceh's capital, Banda Aceh, said he and his colleagues had been briefed about a threat to a relief group active in an area of Sumatra, 180 kilometres from Banda Aceh.

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An Indonesian government spokesman said the militant Free Aceh Movement (GAM) could be behind the threat. But a GAM spokesman in Sweden, where several of the movement's leaders live in exile, said GAM was not planning any attacks.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said relief workers needed to be cautious.

"Obviously, given the fact there had been conflict in the region, the staff who are there have to be careful. They have to watch what they do," Mr Annan told reporters as he returned to UN headquarters from a tour of areas devastated by the tsunami.

In Jakarta, a foreign ministry spokesman, Marty, said the government would try to ensure the safety and security of all humanitarian workers, foreign or Indonesian.