EU holds snap talks on Asia tsunami disaster

EU holds snap talks on Asia tsunami disaster

Michael Thurston, Agence France-Presse/Brussels

European Union (EU) foreign ministers were gathering for hastily-
arranged talks on further ways of helping disaster-hit south Asia
on Friday, a day after Europe boosted aid pledges to some 1.5
billion euros (US$2 billion).

Proposals being considered include debt relief for the
afflicted countries, support for a tsunami alert system for the
Indian Ocean region, and a "rapid response" humanitarian force
for future catastrophes.

According to draft conclusions of the three-hour meeting the
ministers were to underline the "leading role" of the United
Nations in coordinating aid, as well as voicing solidarity after
what they called the unprecedented disaster.

Ahead of the talks, the 25-member bloc's current Luxembourg
presidency trumpeted a pledge for a further 450-million-euro
package of aid announced by EU commission head Jose Manuel
Barroso at a donors' summit in Jakarta on Thursday.

The new EU money adds to pledges by individual countries --
notably 500 million euros by Germany, following the tragedy which
left over 146,000 people dead including hundreds, possibly
thousands, of European tourists.

In Jakarta Barroso, head of the EU's executive arm, also
proposed a billion-euro "Indian Ocean Tsunami Lending Facility"
to be managed by the European Investment Bank.

EU aid commissioner Louis Michel will notably brief the
Brussels meeting -- which will gather EU aid and health
ministers, as well as foreign ministers -- on his meetings in the
region over the last week.

The EU's presidency says the main aim is to coordinate ideas
ahead of a UN-hosted donors' conference in Geneva next week.

The EU commission said such ideas could include debt relief,
and a German initiative to twin countries and even schools in
Europe and the region, to help long-term reconstruction.

They also include plans for a rapid response force for future
disasters. EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-
Waldner suggested earlier this week that this could take the form
of a 5,000-strong "crisis management corps".

But diplomats said this initiative had mixed support among EU
governments, with the focus more on a "rapid response" aid force,
possibly involving a number of countries coordinating national
forces in case of a future disaster.

"There are a number of ideas which have been floated. It is
important to... make sure that the response we make, the
proposals we bring forward, are the right ones," said EU
commission spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail.

According to French-language draft conclusions, the EU
ministers were also to stress the need for governments of
afflicted countries to continue to play their part in helping
their own citizens.

The EU also warned that long-running conflicts with rebels in
both Sri Lanka and Indonesia's Aceh province should not be
allowed to hinder the relief efforts.

"The council (of EU ministers)... launched an appeal so that
aid can be delivered rapidly to all populations concerned,
independent of the internal conflicts in some of the countries
affected," they said.

Several of those at Friday's Brussels talks were either
returning from or heading to the disaster-hit region. German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is due to leave for Thailand
directly after the talks.

Participants also included David Nabarro, the top official at
the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) dealing with
humanitarian crises, and UNICEF head Carol Bellamy.

Britain's Jack Straw was absent as he is currently in the
region. Europe Minister Denis MacShane represented the London
government.