JAKARTA (AP) - Indonesia will no longer hold children as young as eight years old with teens in prison or with adults in police cells, an official said yesterday.

Police signed an agreement on Tuesday with five government departments to keep child defendants between the ages of eight and 12 out of children's penitentiaries, said Arist Merdeka Sirait, the secretary-general of the National Commission for Children's Rights. The criminal justice system does not deal with children younger than eight.

Police will also abandon the practice of holding child defendants for short periods with adults in crowded police cells, Sirait said.

Sirait praised the agreement as a major improvement.

"We need to fully create an environment in which children feel protected."