Amid the devastation, news of hope from home - a son is born Eds:

Amid the devastation, news of hope from home - a son is born Eds:
RETRANSMITTING to correct Irwan Firdaus' byline.[ ---[ UNDATED:
satellite phone.[ By IRWAN FIRDAUS= Associated Press Writer=
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -

Amid devastation, news of hope -- a son is born

Irwan Firdaus
Associated Press/Banda Aceh

I've seen many tragedies in Indonesia, from the slayings of 1,500
people in East Timor in 1999 by Indonesian troops to battles
between Christians and Muslims that killed nearly 10,000 in the
Maluku islands.

Nothing prepared me for what awaited when I arrived in
devastated Aceh province from Jakarta to report on the tsunami's
aftermath. I never imagined such utter destruction was possible.

Everybody I spoke to had lost at least one relative or friend.
Many lost several. A doctor who rushed from Jakarta to check on
family found only one of his 25 relatives who had lived in the
coastal town of Meulaboh before the waves flattened it.

"We don't have any more tears to weep," one survivor told me.
The tragedy took several of my close friends, including a
journalist who often provided stories to The Associated Press
from Banda Aceh, Muharram M. Nur. His house was demolished by the
inrushing sea and he is presumed dead; his wife is hospitalized
and their three daughters were still missing two weeks after the
tsunami.

When the earthquake hit, Muharram had immediately contacted
AP's Jakarta bureau and then raced to a prison reportedly hit by
the quake. The waves swept in after he called.

I lost a friend who got married in November and spent his
honeymoon in the couple's home village in Aceh province. Arief
Rusli and his wife were swept away on Uelele beach, where they
had been walking when the big waves roared in that Sunday.

Another Acehnese friend was Rufriadi Ramli, a lawyer who was
often a source for stories on human rights abuses in the region's
long-running separatist conflict. He hasn't been heard from since
the disaster.

Thoughts of other places were swept away by the devastation.
One had to deal with the grim here and now -- bodies in rivers,
pieces of flesh on roads, expanses of shattered buildings, the
fear of disease outbreaks, hunger among the many homeless.

Then, suddenly, I learned of a new life coming -- my first
child. My wife in Jakarta called early on Jan. 7 to say she was
about to give birth.

I felt sad, nervous and confused.

After three hours and several phone calls from my sister came
news that brought a smile to my face despite the apocalyptic
scenes around me. My wife had given birth to a boy.

I rushed to the airport for the flight home. It should have
taken only a couple of hours, but the trip stretched over 17
hours because my jetliner was diverted first to Malaysia amid the
huge number of relief planes flying in and out of Aceh.

In the frustration of the delays I consoled myself with one
thought: My wife and son were safe and healthy.