Tsunami relief effort hampered

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Indonesia warned aid workers Sunday that separatist rebels have taken shelter in camps for survivors, while a burst of violence hit Sri Lanka, signaling a potential resurgence of long-simmering rebellions in both tsunami-hit countries that could hamper help for victims of the two-week-old disaster.

Compounding the misery, tropical downpours complicated relief efforts already slowed by impassable roads and destroyed bridges. Tens of thousands of survivors living in little more than tents and the drenching rain underscored the need to quickly build permanent shelters.

A U.S. helicopter on a relief operation crashed in a rice paddy near Banda Aceh's airport, injuring at least two U.S. servicemen and causing the military to briefly suspend flights early today.

The two men injured in the crash, along with eight other Navy personnel, were being flown back to their ship in the Lincoln battle group, said Capt. Joe Plenzler, a U.S. military spokesman in Medan, 250 miles southeast of Banda Aceh.

Decades-old conflicts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka lay dormant in the first two weeks after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck, killing more than 150,000 people in Asia and Africa. But now they threaten to re-ignite as aid workers poured into the region with emergency assistance, some traveling to areas where outsiders are almost never allowed.

The workers say they are being cautious but won't let concerns about the rebellions slow the flow of aid.

"We don't believe that aid workers are targets," said Joel Boutroue, head of the U.N. relief effort in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.

Ethnic tensions overshadowed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's tour of devastated areas in Sri Lanka. Hundreds protested in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north after he acceded to a government request not to visit areas under rebel control.

"I'm hoping to come back and be able to visit all areas of the country, not only those repaired, but also to celebrate peace," Annan said before heading to the Maldives. "The U.N. is not here to take sides."

A rare burst of violence between Christians and Hindus in eastern Sri Lanka, where a massive aid effort is under way, revived security fears for relief workers there. At least three people were killed and 37 injured.

The Indonesian government warning offered no details about the infiltration into survivor camps, but was issued hours after police in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, blamed separatists for a nighttime gunfire close to the main U.N. compound in town.