Bush increases tsunami aid

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush has increased his aid pledge to Asian nations hit by the December 26 tsunami by US$600 million ($850 million) to boost reconstruction efforts.

The new money, which must be approved by Congress, is part of a US$950 million package that will also cover the cost of United States relief efforts to date.

Bush pledged US$350 million in tsunami aid on December 31.

"We will use these resources to provide assistance and to work with the affected nations on rebuilding vital infrastructure," Bush said.

Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the relief effort was of strategic importance to the United States, particularly for relations with Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

"Above and beyond the humanitarian considerations, which would be compelling enough, we have an enormous interest in seeing this succeed," Wolfowitz said, citing Bush's second-term goal of promoting democracy in the Muslim world.

The White House said the package would include US$339 million for reconstruction, from rebuilding roads and schools to major water systems.

There is US$168 million to provide food, shelter and housing, and money is also included to bolster tsunami early warning systems.

Bush was criticised for his initial reaction to the tsunami when he pledged US$15 million in US Government assistance, which rose to US$350 million after the enormity of the disaster became clear.

He is to send the US$950 million request to Congress on Tuesday as part of an US$81 billion package to fund US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush included in the tsunami package US$346 million to reimburse the Agency for International Development and the US military for their relief efforts in the region.

Bush has designated former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton to lead a US fundraising drive to help the victims.

They will take part in a US presidential delegation to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives on February 19 to 21.

The White House said the new request might help cover the cost of debt relief for the hardest hit countries.

The US is one of the 19 members of the Paris Club that will provide an initial three-month debt moratorium for affected countries.

The external debts of all the stricken Asian nations total about US$272 billion, with Indonesia owing the group some US$48 billion.

Indonesia hopes to begin large-scale rebuilding and infrastructure projects in Aceh province next month. Alwi Shihab, the minister in charge of tsunami-hit areas, said a blueprint for rebuilding would be worked out in a meeting of local and national authorities at the end of the week.

The United Nations said this week it was planning to lower its profile in Aceh now the emergency period had passed and the province prepared to enter the reconstruction phase.

- REUTERS