The US was eager to end its military tsunami relief operation as soon as other nations are ready to take over, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday. As relief and cleanup continued, the UN began paying survivors to clear rubble.
"As soon as our military folks can pass these responsibilities on to other folks ... and make sure the job gets done, we will be happy," Wolfowitz said after meetings in Bangkok to discuss aid efforts for the Dec. 26 disaster.
PHOTO: AP
Later in the day, Wolfowitz flew to Aceh, where he boarded a US Navy Seahawk helicopter for a tour of the province's tsunami-ravaged coastal areas.
PHOTO: EPA
A huge earthquake and the tsunami it spawned killed more than 157,000 people across 11 countries, triggering an unprecedented global response. But Indonesia has expressed unease with the number of foreign troops on its territory as part of the relief effort and wants them out before the end of March.
Wolfowitz said the US military role would wind down by that deadline.
"I would hope that we would not be needed [in the region] as a military long before March," he said during the flight to Asia, according to a transcript of his remarks released at the Pentagon.
Wolfowitz, a former US ambassador to Indonesia, said cooperation with Jakarta has been very good.
"For any country it is sensitive to have foreign troops on your territory. It would be sensitive in the US and I can tell you that it is extremely sensitive in Indonesia," he said. "What's remarkable is that it has caused no problems to date."
In Aceh, thousands of tsunami survivors were being paid by the UN Development Program 30,000 rupiah (US$3.27) a day to clear rubble and debris.
"They are trying to hire local people to do this as part of stimulating the economy and getting some sort of livelihood back for survivors," said UNDP spokesman William Bergman. The number of Acehnese involved in the clean up operation was expected to rise quickly, he added.
The UN refugee organization, the UNHCR, was Saturday distributing 10,000 five-person tents to survivors in Banda Aceh, said spokesman Mans Nyberg. A further 10,000 tents will arrive soon, he added.
The tents are intended as a stopgap solution to provide shelter for hundreds of thousands of refugees in Aceh province while the UNHCR and Indonesian government plan for 24 more permanent camps with barracks-style shelters, Nyberg said.
With thousands made homeless by the disaster, efforts to keep epidemics at bay intensified. The UN sped up its measles vaccination drive after 20 cases of the disease were reported across Aceh. Health workers were spraying tents with insecticide to prevent malaria in areas that were swamped by the killer waves.
In Sri Lanka, UN World Food Program Director James Morris was traveling to the southern city of Galle. The tsunami killed more than 30,000 people in the island nation.
The WFP is leading a mammoth effort to feed up to 2 million survivors in the countries devastated.
A half a world away in Saudi Arabia, pilgrims streaming into Islam's holy city of Mecca for the annual hajj prayed for the tsunami's victims. Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- was hardest hit by the disaster. But 200,000 Indonesians, the country's quota, still were expected to make the journey.
"I have lost a friend in the tsunami, and I pray for him and the souls of all those that have perished," said Mohamed Saleh, a teacher from Jakarta, outside the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Also See Story:
Muslim pilgrims pray for tsunami victims
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS