Howard goes to mosque to pray for tsunami victims
Howard goes to mosque to pray for tsunami victims
Agencies, Sydney, Australia
Australian Prime Minister John Howard joined worshipers at a
Sydney mosque on Friday to remember victims of the Indian Ocean
tsunami disaster, many of whom were Muslims.
Ahead of a national day of mourning on Sunday, Howard said he
had never seen greater sympathy for the victims of a disaster.
"In my lifetime I have never seen such a widespread, generous
response to a particular disaster," he told worshipers, noting
members of many religions had been affected.
"Whatever differences we have they're minor in terms of the
common humanity we all share to respond to the suffering of
others."
Howard is expected to attend a Christian service in memory of
the victims on Sunday.
Most of the more than 163,000 victims were in Indonesia,
especially in its staunchly Muslim province of Aceh, where around
900 Australian troops have joined a relief effort.
According to an official count, 15 Australians are confirmed
dead in the disaster, while the government listed another 18
people as missing and feared dead on Friday.
Another eight bodies' identities have been confirmed by
families but not by DNA testing.
Australia has led world fundraising efforts for victims of the
disaster, with a massive one billion Australian dollar (US$762
million) aid package from the government for Indonesia and more
than 200 million Australian dollars ($150 million) in private and
corporate donations.
In a separate development, Australia's four largest non-
governmental aid agencies pledged on Friday that 90 cents from
every dollar donated by the general public for relief efforts in
tsunami-affected countries would go to the victims themselves.
Almost 200 million Australian dollars ($150 million) has been
collected in private donations since the Dec. 26 tragedy.
Officials from the Red Cross, World Vision, CARE and Oxfam
Community Aid Abroad held a joint press conference to assure
donors that money would not be eaten up by administrative costs.
The assurance followed a public outcry after the Bali bombings
in October 2002 that too large a proportion of donations had not
reached victims of the terrorist outrage.
The four charities also committed to remain in Indonesia's
Aceh province for as long as their help was needed.
Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, said
he had been overwhelmed by the generosity of donors. "I and my
colleagues regard these donations as a sacred trust to really
honor in every way," Costello told reporters at the Melbourne
press conference.