Searing gas billowed from the crater of the 2,914-metre (9,616-foot) mountain in central Java as the president repeated scientists' warnings that further eruptions are likely over the coming weeks.

"There will be more eruptions from Merapi, albeit small ones. If the conditions are safe you will be able to return to your homes," Yudhoyono told residents of a camp outside the 10-kilometre (six-mile) exclusion zone.

A major eruption last week killed 36 people and experts say the volcano remains extremely dangerous.

Yudhoyono asked the evacuees to be patient and promised government assistance to rebuild their communities once the all-clear is given for their return.

The transport ministry re-issued a warning Wednesday to airlines to avoid certain routes over central Java due to the volcanic ash.

Six flights from Malaysia and Singapore were cancelled on Tuesday, the first day of the aviation warning.

The disaster-prone Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines from the Indian to the Pacific oceans.

In the Mentawai island chain 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) to the west of Mount Merapi, more than 400 people were killed when a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake slammed into coastal villages on October 25.

About 15,000 people were made homeless in that disaster, which scientists said was directly related to the 2004 Asian tsunami, also created by an earthquake off the Sumatran coast.

Officials said bad weather was hampering operations to bring aid supplies to the isolated islands.

"More than 10 ships and helicopters from the military and the police have been dispatched but the bad weather has prevented them from regularly distributing food and medical supplies," a disaster response official said.

Meanwhile concerns were raised for three New Zealand yachtsmen who have not been heard from since the tsunami. They were believed to be sailing towards the Mentawais on the night the three-metre wave struck.

strs-prm/smc/slb

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