Jakarta – The government said on Sunday that the emergency situation in tsunami-ravaged Aceh is now nearly over, and that foreign troops should gradually be replaced by civilians.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said it was "only logical" for foreign militaries to start withdrawing their personnel from Aceh.

"The emergency stage is almost behind us, so militaries will no longer be as effective in contributing. Civilians are needed," said Alwi, who is also in charge of overseeing humanitarian relief work in the region, in Banda Aceh. "We are opening up isolated areas using land transport, so we don't need any more helicopters."

The US, Australia and Singapore are among a number of countries that have dispatched troops to Aceh. They are playing a central role in distributing relief aid by helicopter to hundreds of thousands of survivors in isolated areas. Land transportation was made impossible in many areas of Aceh as the tsunami destroyed many roads and bridges.

But the presence of foreign troops in oil and gas rich-Aceh has created nervousness, particularly among hardliners in the Indonesian military (TNI). For the past three years Aceh had been closed to foreigners, with the TNI launching offensives against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who have been fighting for an independent state for decades.

The government's attitude has raised eyebrows among US officials as well as foreign relief groups. It previously said that it wanted to see foreign troops gone by March 26 as it wanted to take control of the relief work in Aceh, which bore the brunt of the tsunami disaster. At least 166,000 people in the province died and around 600,000 were made homeless as a result of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Alwi's latest remarks came after Singapore last week withdrew three Seahawk helicopters from Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra bordering Aceh. Singapore, whose military mission in Aceh represented its largest-ever overseas operation, was the first foreign country to announce its withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Antara quoted TNI spokesman in Aceh, Col. DJ Nachrowi, as saying that Singapore had already pulled out most of its 965 troops from Aceh on Saturday. "Most of the Singaporean troops who assisted in the relief effort in Aceh returned home on Saturday," he said, adding that the troops will be replaced by civilians who will continue the humanitarian work and help in the rehabilitation process, particularly in the badly affected town of Meulaboh that had been the main focus of the Singapore contingent. He said that the remaining Singaporean military personnel in Aceh were assigned to guard equipment that had yet to be pulled out.

Antara also said that on Sunday, Malaysia had also started to withdraw its military personnel.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that the US military, which has had one of the highest-profile roles in Aceh relief operations, was also preparing to scale down its presence in the province.

Captain Larry Burt, commander of the air wing aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that has been stationed just off Banda Aceh and had been the base for Seahawk and Chinook helicopters, told the news agency on Saturday that the navy was preparing a phased pull-out. "We're kind of in a transition phase right now," Burt said.

In a related development, the World Food Program said on Sunday that it was sending its first ship to deliver food to Aceh's ravaged coastal areas, in an apparent sign that civilian groups were preparing to fill the gap as foreign troops began pulling out.

AP reported that a 400-ton landing vessel carrying WFP aid was due to arrive in Calang city for its first delivery, said Gerald Bourke, spokesman for the UN body. Thousands of victims are in makeshift camps among the ruins of the destroyed city. Relief workers hope to leave Calang a one-month supply of rice, noodles, biscuits, fish and vegetable oil, Bourke said.

The WFP also hopes to increase its helicopter fleet to 10 from the current two, Bourke said.