Clinton to revisit tsunami-hit countries

Clinton to revisit tsunami-hit countries

SRI LANKA: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will make his second visit to Asia this year to ensure that the world's attention remains focused on tsunami recovery efforts, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Clinton, who was recently named UN special envoy for tsunami recovery, will be in Sri Lanka on Saturday after visiting neighboring India, said his press officer, Jehane Sedky- Lavandero. He also will go to the Maldives and Indonesia.

"His immediate priorities ... are keeping the world's attention focused on the tsunami recovery" while making sure the relief effort is well coordinated and that resources are used effectively, Sedky-Lavandero said.

Clinton will also promote measures to make sure relief funds don't disappear into officials' pockets, in order to retain "the engagement of the millions of investors in the operation," she said.

Clinton last visited Sri Lanka in February, traveling to the island's tsunami-devastated southern coast along with another former U.S. president, George H.W. Bush. On Saturday, Clinton is expected to travel to the eastern Kalmunai city -- one of the areas hardest hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

More than 175,000 people were killed in the tsunami across Asia, 31,000 of them in Sri Lanka. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless regionwide. -- AP