Red Cross worker shot in Indonesia

A German Red Cross worker has been shot by an unknown assailant as he was leaving a hotel in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

The Jakarta-based German is in hospital in Banda Aceh awaiting air evacuation to Singapore for further treatment.

Indonesian Red Cross head Bob McKerrow said the particulars of the attack were unclear, but it appeared the man was shot at least twice in the stomach by a motorcyclist, as he was leaving a hotel.

He was cautiously optimistic about the man's condition. "We need to get him out urgently. But I've got a feeling we'll get him out alive."

The attack occurred outside the Pade Hotel in central Banda Aceh, immediately after the man had checked out, to catch a flight back to Jakarta.

The man, whose identity has not been made public, had been in Aceh to inspect Red Cross projects. Police were last night hunting the shooter, who fled the scene on his motorcycle.

"We know of no motives," said McKerrow, a New Zealander. "I don't think it was targeted against the Red Cross. If someone had it in for us, they would have started a long time ago. I think it was one of those criminal incidents."

News of the attack swiftly rippled through the community of foreign non-governmental organisation workers, which has been a major presence in Aceh since the devastating Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, which killed 126,000 people.

Reconstruction work has also focused on erasing the legacy of nearly 30 years of conflict between separatists and the Indonesian military, which officially ended with the Helsinki peace accord of 2005.

"In war zones you expect something like that," said McKerrow. "But Aceh has been very, very calm for a number of years."

The last attack on a foreign NGO worker was in June 2005, when a Hong Kong woman working for the Red Cross was shot and wounded in the shoulder.

Aceh governor Irwandi Yusuf was at the man's hospital bedside as he awaited evacuation. McKerrow said he was still awaiting a translation from the driver accompanying the man, to gain a fuller understanding of the attack. 

Tim Hume is in Indonesia with assistance from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.