Indonesia volcano back on highest alert level

JAKARTA, June 14 (Reuters) An Indonesian agency has raised the alert status of Mount Merapi volcano to its highest level again after it spewed more hot clouds, an official said tday, a day after it downgraded the status.

''The status was upgraded at 2 p.m. because of the increasing hot clouds,'' Triyani, an official at the state-run volcano monitoring centre, told Reuters.

Merapi in central Java, near the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta, had been on the highest alert level since mid-May until Tuesday when the centre said decreasing volcanic activity had made it less dangerous.

REUTERS CH KP1518