Howard, Koizumi to attend tsunami conference
Howard, Koizumi to attend tsunami conference
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Japanese
counterpart Junichiro Koizumi look set to head up the foreign
delegates attending an international emergency summit to discuss
the global response to the tsunami disaster here on Thursday.
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan have also been slated to
possibly attend the conference that will bring together officials
from 23 countries.
Representatives from 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Sri Lanka and India will also
send delegations to the unprecedented meeting.
Howard said that during the summit the world leaders would
"discuss what we can and should further do".
Given the tremendous damage caused to countries with Indian
Ocean coastlines, Koizumi has made the judgment that the national
leader himself should attend Thursday's meeting, Jiji Press news
agency said without citing sources.
At the one-day conference, Koizumi will convey Japan's
willingness to help stem the spread of disease and assist with
the reconstruction of affected areas, Kyodo News reported.
Japan had considered sending Foreign Minister Nobutaka
Machimura to the gathering but reconsidered after Indonesia
strongly requested Koizumi's presence, the report said.
Officials at the prime minister's office were unavailable for
comment.
The global death toll from last Sunday's catastrophe surpassed
126,000 on Saturday, 80,000 of them in the Indonesian province of
Aceh.
Foreign tourists, including Japanese and Australians, were
among those who perished in the disaster.
Indonesia announced on Friday that it would host the summit to
discuss tsunami devastation across Asia, to take stock and plan
how to overcome one of the world's worst natural disasters.
On Saturday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla held a preparatory
meeting for Thursday's summit with Minister for Finance Yusuf
Anwar, Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and
Chairperson of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
Indrawati.
Kalla said the conference would seek to highlight the need for
global solidarity to help tsunami-hit countries stem the spread
of disease and reconstruct the affected areas.