Deported US freelance journalist leaves Aceh

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Deported US freelance journalist William Nessen left Aceh province for Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Nessen who was barred from entering the province for having allegedly violated immigration rules left the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport at Blang Bintang for the Malaysian capital at 02.37 p.m. by a chartered plane, an Antara journalist observed.

Nessen arrived in Aceh on Sunday by an Air Asia flight. He came to Aceh at the invitation of Governor Irwandi Yusuf to help explore the possibility of the province directly exporting areca nut to India where the US national is staying.

However, a day after he had arrived in the province the Indonesian government issued an entry ban dated February 8, 2008 to him.

The Banda Aceh immigration office received a copy of the entry ban only on Sunday (March 9) at 10.00 p.m. so that he could not be deported at that time. With a gurantee from Irwandi, Nessen was not quarantined and stayed at the governor`s guest house.

Nessen and Damien Kingsbury of Australia used to be advisers of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) at peace talks in Helsinki, Finland, aimed at putting an end to the three-decade-old conflict in Aceh.(*) end