Aceh rebels set gas field on fire

Aceh separatists have stepped up violence and demands for a referendum on independence in the province

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Fire raged at a natural gas field belonging to U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil in Indonesia's Aceh province after a rebel attack, the state Antara news agency reported.

A grenade thrown by separatists exploded near a gas extraction installation in Lhoksukon, about 1,750 kilometers (1,100 miles) northwest of Jakarta, setting it on fire, said Sidick Nitikusuma, a spokesman for the state-owned oil company, Pertamina.

The fire started just after midnight on Saturday and was still burning 10 hours later. Damage to the extraction and processing installations appeared to be extensive, he said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

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Last month, Exxon Mobil suspended pumping natural gas in Aceh amid battles between security forces guarding the facility and the insurgents. The company's foreign and local staff were evacuated.

A spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil in Jakarta, Julia Tumengkol, said details of the fire were sketchy. But gunbattles did break out around the gas fields late Friday, she said.

The Free Aceh Movement has been battling for 25 years for a homeland in the oil- and gas-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. The war has claimed at least 6,000 lives in the past decade, most of them civilians.

Oil and natural gas exports are a main Indonesian industry. The shutdown of Exxon-Mobil aggravates the country's economic woes.

Indonesia's main markets, Japan and South Korea, have been looking to other sources.

Indonesia is also mired in bad loans. Companies have reneged on paying back government subsidies, leading the International Monetary Fund to withhold further loans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

IMF due to visit Indonesia next week
April 6, 2001

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