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.