Agence France Presse

Jakarta, January 24:

An American journalist said today he would be deported from Indonesia after immigration officials accused him violating a ban to enter the country and report on the tsunami disaster in Aceh province.

Willian Nessen was detained yesterday in the North Sumatran city of Medan as he was about to take a flight to Kuala Lumpur after visiting tsunami ravaged Aceh province.

“They are not calling it deportation but I guess it is,” Nessen told AFP, adding that he would fly to Kuala Lumpur tonight.

Nessen, 48, was arrested in 2003 while reporting on the side of separatist rebels fighting for independence in Aceh.

He was jailed for 40 days for reporting without informing authorities in the province, where restrictions were imposed on foreign journalists amid an operation to crush the rebellion.

Quake triggers panic:

JAKARTA: A strong earthquake shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Monday, damaging dozens of shops and homes and prompting thousands to flee for fear of a repeat of last month’s tsunami disaster. The quake measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and caused several buildings to collapse in the coastal city of Palu, when it struck shortly before dawn, officials said. — AFP