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S Arabia to give aid to Aceh

RIYADH: Saudi King Fahd decided on Saturday to send two planeloads of dates, rice and other foodstuffs to the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, the official SPA news agency reported.

The food aid is "the kingdom's government's contribution toward alleviating the suffering in the province," which has been wracked in the past year by clashes between Indonesian troops and militants and their supporters.

The intermittent violence between the militants and Indonesian security forces has killed more than 300 people and left 66 missing since May of last year.

Demands for Aceh to secede from Indonesia have been fuelled by the brutality of the military's decade-long campaign to crush the militant movement which ended in 1998.ÑAFP