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Tsunami anniversary: Yudhoyono mourns with Aceh victims

Mourners observed a minute of silence yesterday to mark one year since the Indian Ocean tsunami crashed ashore in a dozen countries, devastated coastal communities and swept away at least 216,000 lives.

In Aceh, the hardest-hit area, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presided over memorial services, setting off a siren at 8:16am, to mark to moment the first waves struck on Dec. 26 last year.

The president also presided over one minute of silence at a mosque, which was the only building left standing in Ulee Lheue district town.

"Today, we are in this place to remember the tsunami disaster, a tragedy, calamity and a test for the Indonesian nation. We observe a brief moment of silence in honor of our brothers and sisters who died in the tsunami disaster," Yudhoyono told the Acehnese survivors in a speech.

"Under the blue sky, we stand together as God's children. It was under the same blue sky exactly a year ago that mother earth unleashed the most destructive power among us," he said.

After the ceremony, Yudhoyono visited a mass grave nearby where nearly 47,000 bodies of tsunami victims were buried in the days after the disaster. He also toured the sites where thousands of survivors have been housed.

But a new hope of peace in Aceh emerged after last year's disaster, Yudhoyono said, referring to a peace accord signed in August with the Free Aceh Movement.
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