Indonesia has announced the creation of a new agency to oversee the reconstruction of the tsunami-devastated Aceh region, after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pulled out last month, the New York Times reports.

According to officials at UNHCR, which had planned to spend $60 million on the construction of more than 35,000 houses, the agency withdrew from the project because Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected its housing proposals. The ministry gave no official reason for the rejection, beyond a statement that the government viewed the agency's responsibility to be involved solely with refugees. "There was a mismatch," said ministry spokesman Marty Natalgawa. "We want to ensure a match between the needs on the ground and the mission of the agency."

In the days after the tsunami, senior managers at the United Nations asked UNHCR, which considers itself to be the UN branch best equipped to provide emergency shelter, to play a major role in the reconstruction of regions devastated by the tsunami. Some officials attributed the ministry's decision to memories of UN involvement in administering East Timor and protecting refugees from pro-Indonesian militias after the East Timorese voted for independence in 1999.

The Indonesian government said that long-term reconstruction in Aceh, where it is trying to suppress a separatist rebellion, will be managed by the new Agency for the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Aceh. The senior UN representative in Indonesia, Bo Asplud, said that he had asked the government to consider re-admitting UNHCR. "We have spoken with the government," said Asplud, "and we'll have to see what decision the government makes."