Indonesia has yet to made an official request for Malaysia to be the mediator in resolving the bloodshed in troubled province of Aceh.

According to Indonesia's largest online newspaper Detik.com, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said that no decision had been made despite that Malaysia had offered to help in the mediation process between Indonesia and Aceh.

It also reported that the matter was widely discussed between Alwi, visiting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar and Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday.

Mahathir had reiterated that Malaysia's stand was that Aceh should remain as part of Indonesia.

Aceh has been campaigning to break away from Indonesia for a number of decades and there were numerous reports of human rights abuse by the Indonesian military.

Meanwhile, Detik.com also reported that the raging forest fires in Sumatra were high on the agenda during the meeting between Mahathir and Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, .

The Associated Press quoted Gus Dur as saying that he had instructed his Cabinet ministers to take measures to handle the forest fires, which has caused the haze problem for neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

The wire service also reported that authorities in Malaysia and Singapore were monitoring air pollution levels and pressing the Indonesian government to clamp down on those who were setting the fires. Some of the haze, it said, had already reached Singapore.

Detik.com blamed the haze problem on its government's lackadaisical attitude in clamping down on loggers and farmers who were setting the fires. As a result, it said, the fires have become a national disaster similar to what happened in 1997.