Fischer was to meet Indonesian Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa and German aid workers in the city of Banda Aceh and view the main hospital and provisional shelters to assess the impact of Berlin's assistance.

Germany has pledged 500 million euros (640 million dollars) in aid over the next three to five years to areas battered by the tsunami, making it one of the world's most generous countries in the global relief and reconstruction effort.

The German public has donated about the same amount again since the December 26 catastrophe, which claimed more than 285,000 lives in 11 countries. Hundreds of German tourists are missing and presumed dead.

Although the some 360 German troops in Aceh have been a welcome presence, the aid effort has been marred by accusations by private aid organizations including the German Red Cross that the military has poorly coordinated the operation.

Aceh bore the brunt of the killer sea surges, wiping out many coastal villages and leaving more than 231,000 people dead or missing, and some 400,000 homeless.

The German military has anchored a supply ship, the Berlin, off the coast of Aceh equipped with a full-service clinic and two water treatment systems and set up a medical unit in the city of Banda Aceh.

Germany has also established the Bakoy temporary shelter with its Technical Reconstruction Agency.

Indonesia has also expressed interest in a 45-million-euro tsunami warning system developed by Germany that Berlin may donate as part of its aid package.

Fischer's visit to Aceh comes at the end of a long-planned nine-day tour that also took him to Australia, New Zealand, East Timor and Malaysia. He will fly back to Berlin later Friday.