Asian tsunami toll nears 220,000 confirming worst fears
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - The death toll from last month's Indian Ocean tsunamis shot up to nearly 220,000 as Indonesia reported thousands more deaths, confirming fears over the extent of the carnage.
Indonesia's health ministry upped its toll by almost 70,000 late Wednesday, taking the number dead on northern Sumatra island to 166,320.
The figure, reached when thousands said to be missing were listed as dead, conflicted with a tally of 115,000 from the social affairs department.
However it appeared to be reaching the numbers that officials including the UN's chief humanitarian coordinator, Jan Egeland, had warned to expect.
Egeland said in early January, when Indonesia's toll was around 90,000, that the figure would rise "exponentially" here after a more thorough assessment of the damage, especially in isolated areas of Sumatra's Aceh province, seen as the ground zero for the December 26 disaster.
As efforts pressed on around the Indian Ocean basin to help those suffering the effects of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and the tsunami it triggered, Egeland said Thursday cash pledged by donor countries was beginning to roll in.
Donor nations promised billions of dollars after the tsunamis, but the United Nations on January 6 appealed for 977 million of the sum to immediately meet needs of survivors.
"The donor response has never, ever been better or more generous or more immediate," Egeland told a conference on disaster reduction in Kobe, Japan.
Meanwhile, the United States, which has led foreign military operations that have been the backbone of relief operations, indicated it would wind down its relief operations at the end of February.
US Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the US forces in the Pacific, told Malaysia's Defence Minister Najib Razak that there was no deadline for the exit of foreign forces but they would be phased out as the United Nations took over.
"It is expected that towards the end of February their troop involvement would be reduced as agencies under the UN take over relief duties and commence rehabilitation efforts," Najib told a news conference after talks with Fargo.
"But this is a usual thing for them to do. As and when the other agencies that specialise in humanitarian assistance expand the scope of their operations, they will wind down their military operation accordingly."
Thousands of foreign military personnel from countries including Malaysia, France, Singapore, India and Japan, equipped with warships and helicopters, have helped bring relief to isolated areas of tsunami-hit coastline.
But their arrival has stirred some resentment in traditionally nationalist Indonesia, particularly in Aceh, where Jakarta is fighting a three-decade-old separatist struggle that has prompted a lockdown in security in the province.
Indonesia indicated Wednesday it may sit down for peace talks with leaders of the rebel Free Aceh Movement before the end of January in what would be the first step towards conciliation since a truce collapsed in early 2003.
The United States called late Wednesday for a political solution to the conflict, with top Pentagon officials arguing that the country's powerful military should be "pushed to get out of the way" if they drag their heels.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, fresh from a tour of Indonesia and other disaster-hit countries, suggested that military ties suspended in 1999 over a crisis in East Timor could slowly be restored as a reward for peace.
"We have a chance to give some meaning to that tragedy by moving to a better future, including particularly trying to move toward a political resolution of that problem in Aceh," Wolfowitz said in an interview.
A similar post-disaster peace drive was under way in Sri Lanka with the arrival of Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim on a mission to rescue faltering efforts to end the island's decades-old ethnic conflict.
In Aceh where decomposing bodies are still being hauled from the wreckage, the mood remained sombre ahead of traditional Islamic festivities which are normally a high spot on the calendar in devout Aceh.
Shopkeepers the semi-demolished provincial capital Banda Aceh selling animals ahead of Friday's Eid al-Adha, the Muslim day of sacrifice in which many feast on fresh meat, said people lacked money and motivation to celebrate.
"It is a bad year. Not many are buying meat this Meugang, and the few who buy only buy small quantities," said butcher Jamin.
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - The death toll from last month's Indian Ocean tsunamis shot up to nearly 220,000 as Indonesia reported thousands more deaths, confirming fears over the extent of the carnage.
Indonesia's health ministry upped its toll by almost 70,000 late Wednesday, taking the number dead on northern Sumatra island to 166,320.
The figure, reached when thousands said to be missing were listed as dead, conflicted with a tally of 115,000 from the social affairs department.
However it appeared to be reaching the numbers that officials including the UN's chief humanitarian coordinator, Jan Egeland, had warned to expect.
Egeland said in early January, when Indonesia's toll was around 90,000, that the figure would rise "exponentially" here after a more thorough assessment of the damage, especially in isolated areas of Sumatra's Aceh province, seen as the ground zero for the December 26 disaster.
As efforts pressed on around the Indian Ocean basin to help those suffering the effects of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and the tsunami it triggered, Egeland said Thursday cash pledged by donor countries was beginning to roll in.
Donor nations promised billions of dollars after the tsunamis, but the United Nations on January 6 appealed for 977 million of the sum to immediately meet needs of survivors.
"The donor response has never, ever been better or more generous or more immediate," Egeland told a conference on disaster reduction in Kobe, Japan.
Meanwhile, the United States, which has led foreign military operations that have been the backbone of relief operations, indicated it would wind down its relief operations at the end of February.
US Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the US forces in the Pacific, told Malaysia's Defence Minister Najib Razak that there was no deadline for the exit of foreign forces but they would be phased out as the United Nations took over.
"It is expected that towards the end of February their troop involvement would be reduced as agencies under the UN take over relief duties and commence rehabilitation efforts," Najib told a news conference after talks with Fargo.
"But this is a usual thing for them to do. As and when the other agencies that specialise in humanitarian assistance expand the scope of their operations, they will wind down their military operation accordingly."
Thousands of foreign military personnel from countries including Malaysia, France, Singapore, India and Japan, equipped with warships and helicopters, have helped bring relief to isolated areas of tsunami-hit coastline.
But their arrival has stirred some resentment in traditionally nationalist Indonesia, particularly in Aceh, where Jakarta is fighting a three-decade-old separatist struggle that has prompted a lockdown in security in the province.
Indonesia indicated Wednesday it may sit down for peace talks with leaders of the rebel Free Aceh Movement before the end of January in what would be the first step towards conciliation since a truce collapsed in early 2003.
The United States called late Wednesday for a political solution to the conflict, with top Pentagon officials arguing that the country's powerful military should be "pushed to get out of the way" if they drag their heels.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, fresh from a tour of Indonesia and other disaster-hit countries, suggested that military ties suspended in 1999 over a crisis in East Timor could slowly be restored as a reward for peace.
"We have a chance to give some meaning to that tragedy by moving to a better future, including particularly trying to move toward a political resolution of that problem in Aceh," Wolfowitz said in an interview.
A similar post-disaster peace drive was under way in Sri Lanka with the arrival of Norwegian envoy Erik Solheim on a mission to rescue faltering efforts to end the island's decades-old ethnic conflict.
In Aceh where decomposing bodies are still being hauled from the wreckage, the mood remained sombre ahead of traditional Islamic festivities which are normally a high spot on the calendar in devout Aceh.
Shopkeepers the semi-demolished provincial capital Banda Aceh selling animals ahead of Friday's Eid al-Adha, the Muslim day of sacrifice in which many feast on fresh meat, said people lacked money and motivation to celebrate.
"It is a bad year. Not many are buying meat this Meugang, and the few who buy only buy small quantities," said butcher Jamin.
