Germany top tsunami donor after $680m pledge

Germany top tsunami donor after $680m pledge

Agencies, Berlin/Riyadh

Germany will increase its aid to nations hit by the Asian tsunami to 500 million euros (US$680 million), Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Wednesday, making it the world's top donor to the ravaged region.

In a news conference following a special German cabinet meeting on the tsunami disaster, Schroeder said the aid would be offered over a three to five year period and go towards supporting children and addressing health problems in the region.

Previously, Japan and the United States were the largest donors with pledges of $500 million and $350 million, respectively. Until Wednesday, Germany had pledged 20 million euros.

"The question arose of what we could do in the long term, because as important as the short-term aid is, it was not enough," Schroeder said. "I tried to make clear from the beginning that the solidarity that exists in Germany ... needed to be translated into a medium and long-term program."

Alongside Sweden, Germany looks to have suffered the most casualties of any country outside the devastated region, with 60 Germans confirmed dead and more than 1,000 still missing as of Wednesday.

The disaster has dominated television broadcasts in Germany since Dec. 26, when a 9.0-magnitude quake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra sent massive waves across the Indian Ocean.

Graphic pictures of dazed orphans, crying mothers and devastated towns have stared out from the front pages of Germany's top newspapers for over a week.

A flood of German private donations has gathered pace in recent days, surging above the $200 million threshold on the back of a 10 million euro contribution from Deutsche Bank and a 7.5 million euro pledge from German Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

"Aid readiness breaks all records," said German daily Die Welt on Wednesday.

In contrast to Sweden, where the government has been criticized for delays in sending help to hundreds of Swedes in the region, Schroeder's swift response has been applauded.

The chancellor cut short a holiday on Tuesday last week, returning to Berlin and vowing to press for a debt moratorium in the Paris Club for tsunami-hit nations Indonesia and Somalia -- a proposal that has been welcomed by leaders across the world.

On Wednesday he said Germany was confident the Group of Seven rich countries would agree a debt relief deal for Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In his new year's address, Schroeder said he would propose to the EU that bilateral partnerships be set up with tsunami-hit nations, under which German cities, villages and schools would take charge of the reconstruction of counterparts in Asia.

Germany has sent technical experts to the region to assess requirements and has dispatched a navy hospital ship which is expected to arrive in Sumatra early next week.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it was increasing its aid to victims of the Asian tsunami disaster to $30 million and would organize a telethon to raise more funds.

Given that the scale of the disaster and damage "has surpassed all expectations, royal orders have been issued to increase Saudi Arabia's aid to the victims from $10 million to 30 million," the official SPA news agency reported.