Indonesia's government will return its tsunami-hit Aceh province to civilian rule after the current state of emergency expires next week, officials said Thursday. Security Minister Widodo Adisucipto said the emergency, imposed two years ago in an attempt to clamp down on a growing separatist movement, would not be renewed. Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, he said that military anti-insurgency operations would continue despite a unilateral truce declared by the rebels after the Dec. 26 tsunami that devastated the region of 4.1 million people. "Security operations will still continue to safeguard the reconstruction and rehabilitation process from (rebel) disturbances," Widodo said.
