Kiwi medics to leave Aceh tonight

BANDA ACEH - New Zealand and Australian medical teams in tsunami-devastated Banda Aceh have handed back control of the town's main hospital to local medical staff, with New Zealanders planning to fly out of the region overnight (NZ time).

The withdraw from the northern Sumatran province follows the Australian government's warning of terrorist attacks on foreign military and civilian aid staff in the region.

New Zealand and Australian military officers at the hospital ruled out any link between the warning and the end of their work in the area.

Senior New Zealand officers told NZPA that a planned pull-out began last week after it was decided that local medical staff were now able to run the hospital.

The Boxing Day disaster had devastated local ranks and turned the building into a cesspool.

The Australian commanding officer of the Anzac hospital, Lieutenant Colonel Georgina Whelan, played down security warnings, saying the medical team was always on alert and it had not heightened security precautions.

Australians are also winding down their operations and plan to fly out on February 28th.

Some Australian defence staff told NZPA they were upset their government had publicly announced the security warning after they had been told not to tell their families during an earlier briefing.

Despite security warnings, an upbeat hand-over ceremony was held in the hospital grounds overnight (NZ time), which was attended by the local medical management, aid agencies and the German medical team who are remaining at the hospital.

The head of the Australian army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, also attended today's ceremony and thanked New Zealanders for their work.

Similar sentiments were expressed by local medical staff, who said it would have taken much longer to get the hospital running without the New Zealanders' assistance.

The ceremony was marked by a rendition of Waltzing Matilda by the Australians and a haka by the New Zealanders.

The haka proved so popular among the audience of Indonesians, foreign soldiers and media that an encore was demanded and given.

After a debriefing in Jakarta, the 32-strong medical team were told they are due to return to New Zealand later this week, two weeks after they relieved the initial deployment that came to Banda Aceh in early January.

Prime Minister Helen Clark is also likely to shortly announce the return of the Hercules crew, currently based in Jakarta for relief work.

The majority of the crew are also a replacement team, although some have served right through the tour, an indication of the shortage of critical personnel.

The Hercules was in heavy demand during the first week of operation as a flood of aid overwhelmed the ability of the agencies and the local infrastructure to deliver to those in need.

In recent weeks, the demand for its services has reduced as civilian aid agencies have got into gear and more aid is funnelled through the northern Sumatran city of Medan.

The Indonesian government recently said it wanted the foreign military off its soil by February 26 -- two months after the Tsunami and earthquake hit the northwest of Sumatra and caused destruction across many countries on the Indian Ocean.

The Indonesian statement was widely reported as the government setting a deadline, but was later clarified as a time-line for withdrawal as aid in the region turned from emergency to reconstruction.

The New Zealand withdrawal also follows a comment in an Indonesian language newspaper criticising the Anzac presence, saying local medical staff should be in control.

Lieutenant Colonel Whelan said the criticism had been unfair as there had been no locals to run the hospital until recent weeks.

Two weeks after the tsunami struck -- when the first New Zealand medical team arrived -- the grounds of the hospital were covered in contaminated debris and mud.

Many patients and staff -- including the entire children's ward -- were killed when water swept through the building around 3km from the coast.

Most wards are now open and a large German military field hospital is operating in the entrance.

The main roads of central Banda Aceh have almost returned to normality.

However, on some side-roads heavy machinery still works to clear debris, while closer to the coast the wasteland left behind by the wall of water still looks the same as it did on December 27.

Between 500 and 750 bodies are still being recovered from the area every day, with the death-toll estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000 people.

- NZPA