Senior military officials visit Aceh's ExxonMobil Oil

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief of general affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago visited the ExxonMobil Oil gas field in North Aceh regency's giant industrial area of Lhoksukon on Wednesday.

The military's spokesman for Aceh's law and order operation Lt. Col. Firdaus said in a statement made later in the day, that Djamari visited the gas field along with the Army's Special Force Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaeni and the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Division I chief Maj. Gen. Harry Kosasih.

Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil Indonesia said on Wednesday it had resumed repair work on key gas fields in rebellious Aceh province on a reduced scale but remained undecided on when production would start.

The oil giant suspended repairs on Monday after a homemade bomb exploded in the area, injuring one workman. The repairs resumed on Tuesday.

``Repair work is going on with a mix of employees and contractors but at a minimum and we do not have anyone working in remote areas,'' company spokesman Julia Tumengkol told Reuters.

``Our plans are active to reopen the fields but we can't say when that will be,'' she added.

On Tuesday, minister of energy and mineral resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that Military, ExxonMobil and Pertamina held emergency meeting to decide whether or not to resume repair work (*)