Islam, who turned his back on showbusiness in 1977 when he became a Muslim convert, took a helicopter flight over some of the most devastated areas.

He said he has decided to briefly step back into the spotlight -- recording a charity record "Indian Ocean" and headlining a benefit concert in Jakarta on Monday -- because of the scale of the calamity.

"When we heard, when we saw what had happened we were also moved and because I already run some charities looking after orphans we decided to come to Aceh as soon as possible," he told reporters on arrival at Banda Aceh airport.

He was due to pray in the region's main mosque later Saturday.

Islam praised "fantastic" relief efforts but said more needed to be done in the devoutly Muslim province, home to most of the 230,000 Indonesians presumed dead after the December 26 earthquake and tsunamis.

"It also needs to be continued so we just don't give (charity to) them in a flash for one month and then it's gone. This is going to be a long-term problem," he told reporters.

He said his presence in Indonesia would help draw attention to aid requirements and ensure help was sustained "as long as needed."

His helicopter touched down later Saturday at Lam No, a town on the west coast of Indonesia's northern Sumatra island, 44 kilometers (27 miles) south of Banda Aceh.

Islam touched the heads of children who lined up with their mothers at a camp for the displaced to receive 50,000-rupiah (about five dollars) bank notes from him.

"Have you seen anything like this in your country?" some of the children asked him.

"No, not in Britain," Islam told them. "But the tsunami can happen anywhere."

The British singer said his Small Kindness charity was setting up a regional office in Indonesia and would work on projects "to keep families together" by helping children who had lost their parents in Aceh.

"We try to find other family members who would look after the orphans and then keep the family together in that way and then pay them subsistence every month," he said.

The charity, which works closely with the UN, has distributed nearly four million euros to needy families and for rehabilitation work in Iraq and the Balkans over the past five years, said his wife Fauziah Islam.

Islam, who had hits in the 1960s and 1970s with "Father and Son", "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train", hit the headlines last year when he was deported from the United States after being found to be on a US terrorism watchlist.

The bearded recording artist strongly denied any links to terrorist organisations.

His visit to Aceh followed in the footsteps of several prominent world figures including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and, shortly before he stood down as US secretary of state, Colin Powell.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard was expected to tour the region next week.