BANDA ACEH (Indonesia) - THE Red Cross suspended its activities in the Indonesian province of Aceh for a day on Friday after one of its German workers was shot and wounded by gunmen on a motorbike.

The international organisation decided on the shutdown after Thursday's shooting of Ernhard Bauer, 50, on the outskirts of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, local Indonesian Red Cross chief Bustari Mansyur said.

Mr Bauer, the representative for the Red Cross's German branch in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra, was shot in the stomach and arm by two men while riding in a car.

He was flown to Singapore for treatment but his condition was not known.

'We suspended the activities of the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Indonesian Red Cross in Aceh today,' Mr Masyur said. 'We are concerned about the shooting.'

Aceh police spokesman Farid Ahmad Saleh said no motive had yet been found for the shooting. -- AFP