German Military to Begin Leaving Aceh

Germany is to soon begin withdrawing its military contingent from Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province, a spokesman for the contingent said Thursday." The first group, mostly doctors and paramedics, will leave Aceh on March 10, the second group on March 14 and the rest will all leave on March 18," Lieutenant Colonel Walter-Hubert Schmidt told AFP. Their departure will come more than one week before March 26, the government's preferred date by which the emergency relief stage should end and foreign military forces pull out of Aceh. Germany has 146 military personnel active in Aceh, mostly providing medical help in several areas stricken by the Dec.26 earthquake and ensuing tsunamis which killed more than 237,000 people.