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Today, 22 November 2009

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Yesterday, 21 November 2009

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With thousands of bodies still being pulled from the rubble and the death toll topping 157 000, the emergency phase of the tsunami disaster is far from over, the Red Cross warned, as donor countries convened in Geneva on Tuesday for a UN conference.

Markku Niskala, secretary general of the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that some 2600 bodies had been recovered on Saturday alone around the town of Meulaboh on Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

This "is an alarming figure and only indicates that the emergency phase definitely is not over yet", Niskala said.

Indonesia's death toll rose to 105 262 on Tuesday with more than 10 000 still missing, according to the social affairs ministry.

This was out of a total of more than 157 000 deaths from the disaster caused by an undersea earthquake off Sumatra on December 26.

Representatives gather for UN conference

In Geneva, pushed by unprecedented global sympathy for tsunami victims, about 250 representatives of governments, aid agencies and nations hit by the catastrophe were gathering for a conference chaired by UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland.

The task of the conference is to firm up worldwide pledges of more than eight billion dollars for the relief effort and turn promises into reality, while at the same time seek to better coordinate how, when and where the aid gets delivered on the ground.

"The watchword is cash," said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokesperson for the United Nations' humanitarian coordination agency.

She said the world body was expecting countries to formalise their pledges and give concrete commitments with precise timeframes.

US President George W. Bush said Washington was fully committed to help rehabilitate and rebuild devastated economies.

"We're now entering a second phase providing for rehabilitation to these affected societies, as well as a reconstruction effort," he said.

"The government of the United States is committed to helping people who suffer."

Some Islamic nations under fire

With some Islamic nations under fire for what is seen as a less than generous response to the tragedy, which involves some Muslim countries, Malaysia announced that members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference have contributed $118-million in aid.

The 57-member OIC, of which Malaysia is current chairman, would channel the money through the UN, said Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

On the ground, survivors around the region were slowly beginning to rebuild their lives, going back to sea to fish in Sri Lanka, and reopening businesses even in the worst hit area, Indonesia's Sumatra island.

But the good news stories were few and far between as aid workers pressed ahead with their grim task amidst death and destruction on an epic scale and still simmering regional conflicts.

AFP