World sends condolences, offer help to quake-hit Indonesia<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nNew Delhi\/Canberra<\/p>\n
Several countries across the globe sent their condolences on
\nTuesday to Indonesia and offered help after an earthquake hit its
\nisland of Nias and killed several hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh conveyed his condolences
\nto Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the bereaved
\nfamilies in a special message on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, a closest neighbor, offered US$2 million as aid to
\nearthquake-hit Indonesia on Tuesday, the Indian Embassy informed
\nThe Jakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The small Indonesian island of Nias bore the brunt of an 8.7-
\nmagnitude undersea earthquake that struck late Monday, burying an
\nunknown number of people beneath their homes as they collapsed.
\nDeath toll estimates ranged from 330 to around 2,000.<\/p>\n
China's government on Tuesday said it would donate $500,000 in
\ncash to Indonesia, while its Red Cross pledged $300,000 for the
\nrelief efforts in the quake-hit areas.<\/p>\n
President Hu Jintao on Tuesday expressed his condolences,
\nextending sincere sympathy to bereaved families in the region,
\nsaid Xinhua.<\/p>\n
Hu sent a telegram to Susilo Yudhoyono to express his support
\nwhile Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing contacted his counterpart
\nHassan Wirayuda, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.<\/p>\n
Japan offered on Tuesday to send relief goods, paramedics and
\ntroops to Indonesia following a massive earthquake there, weeks
\nafter a historic Japanese military mission ended in the Southeast
\nAsian nation.<\/p>\n
"First, we must listen carefully to requests from local
\npeople. We must provide assistance in response to their needs. It
\nis not good to be intrusive," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
Relief agencies in Britain reacted swiftly on Tuesday to the
\nkiller earthquake in Indonesia, but the travel industry doubted
\nthat the disaster would have much of an impact on tourism in
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
Oxfam International, active in the region following the
\ndevastating Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami, said it sent an
\nassessment team to Nias island by helicopter from Banda Aceh to
\nsize up the scale of the disaster.<\/p>\n
Singapore has dispatched military helicopters and a team of
\nmedical and rescue workers to the earthquake-hit Indonesian
\nisland of Nias, the government said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The three Chinook helicopters will provide transport in and
\nout of the affected area and carry out medical evacuation, while
\nthe team will assist local agencies with relief efforts, the
\ndefense ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Germany sent its condolences on Tuesday to Indonesia after an
\nearthquake off its northwest coast killed hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
"We feel for the Indonesian people in their shock and
\nmourning," Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in a telegram to
\nhis Indonesian counterpart Hassan.<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Australia would
\nprovide a field hospital and air medical evacuation team to
\nIndonesia. He said he might order a navy transport ship that had
\nbeen en route back to Australia after helping in the tsunami
\nrelief effort in Aceh to turn around, and could send two military
\ntransport planes.<\/p>\n
"It could involve some rerouting of HMAS Kanimbla which is on
\nits way home having provisioned in Singapore and also we may have
\nto supply two of the C-130s," Howard told Australian Broadcasting
\nCorp. radio.<\/p>\n
He also pledged an additional 1 million Australian dollars
\n(US$771,000) in disaster aid to Indonesia. Australia had already
\npledged A$1 billion (US$771 million) in grants and low-interest
\nloans to Indonesia over five years following the Dec. 26
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
The United States was preparing to provide assistance to South
\nAsian countries after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck on Monday
\noff the coast of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Senior U.S. officials for the region were in touch with the
\nvarious embassies there to plan for a relief effort if it's
\nnecessary, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said
\nin Washington.<\/p>\n
U.S. President George W. Bush was briefed on Monday's quake
\nwhile aboard Air Force One preparing to return to Washington from
\nTexas. U.S. embassies in the tsunami zone were put "in battle
\nmode" so they could "act appropriately if and when it's
\nnecessary," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.<\/p>\n
New Zealand said it would pay to transport a team of doctors
\nfrom a private aid group to Nias to help those injured in the
\nearthquake.<\/p>\n
"Our thoughts are with the people of Indonesia, particularly
\nthose living in its outlying islands who have borne the brunt of
\nthis devastating quake," Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
Sweden's government also rushed into action at news that
\nanother huge quake had struck the area, officials said on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
"I would characterize our preparedness this time as extremely
\ngood ... All the relevant active (government) players met on
\nMonday," foreign ministry spokeswoman Nina Ersman told AFP.<\/p>",
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