Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province today and met senior government officials, the state Antara news agency said.

According to Jakarta's Elshinta radio, Mahathir held closed-door talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab. The nature of the talks or the purpose of the visit were not known.

Later Mahathir, accompanied by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, visited several sites damaged by the tsunami in and around the main city of Banda Aceh, Antara said.

Among the sites was Ule Lhee, a fishing village on the northwestern tip of the city that was completely levelled by the tidal waves on Dec 26.

Help to restore schools

Mahathir also talked with a number of patients treated at a site hospital operated by the Malaysian armed forces at the Mata'Ie camp for the displaced some six kilometers from Banda Aceh.

"What is important now is how to rebuild the city of Banda Aceh and relocate the populations in this areas," Mahathir said, according to journalists.

He said that Malaysia was also identifying what it could do to help restore education in Aceh.

"We are currently studying the needs for that," he said.

During a visit to the region last month, Mahathir's successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his country would pay for the education of 38,000 Indonesian children orphaned by the disaster.

Malaysia has been a major supplier of aid to Indonesia in the wake of the tsunami believed to have killed more than 237,000 people in an around Aceh. About 400 military and police have been dispatched to the stricken province.