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'Australian troops will not play military role in Aceh'
The Australian PM said that the troops' role would remain solely humanitarian aid even if violence escalates.
Australia is monitoring the threat to aid workers from the separatist struggle in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province, but its troops will play no military role there, Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday.
Indonesia warned aid workers on Sunday that separatist rebels have taken shelter in camps for survivors.
The warning offered no details, but came hours after police in the provincial capital Banda Aceh blamed separatists for a night time burst of gunfire close to the main UN compound in town. No one was injured.
Howard said in an interview with CNN that the potential for Australians to become caught in the crossfire was "something that we will keep a very careful eye on, as will our military."
He added: "But thus far, we believe that the security situation can be handled effectively and it's not in any way impeding the delivery of aid."
The number of Australian troops in Aceh is set to rise to 860 on Thursday, when a navy amphibious transport ship arrives in Banda Aceh with earth-moving equipment and other vehicles to help with reconstruction.
Howard said the troops' role would remain solely humanitarian aid even if violence escalates.
"We're not engaged in military operations in Indonesia and we won't be and we don't expect any requests to be," he said.
The UN Association of Australia national president Margaret Reynolds, a former opposition lawmaker, called on the government to demand that the Indonesian military stop launching incursions against the Achenese.
But Howard said that Australia's prime aim was delivering aid.
"The working relationship between the Australian military forces and the Indonesian military forces is smooth," Howard said. "We're not in the business of picking sides."
