RI thanks Australia for tsunami aid

RI thanks Australia for tsunami aid

AUSTRALIA: Indonesia thanked neighboring Australia on Monday for its help after last week's tsunami and earthquake disaster which killed more than 94,000 people in the country and devastated Aceh province.

"I'm overwhelmed by the positive gestures shown by your government as well as the Australian people," Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Imron Cotan, said in Sydney. "We think they have done a tremendous job in helping us."

Imron warned, however, that much more help would be needed.

The destruction in Aceh triggered a huge outpouring of sympathy in Australia, where some A$75 million (US$58 million) had been pledged to aid agencies by Monday.

The government has also donated 60 million Australian dollars in financial aid and promised more, saying most of the money would go to Indonesia.

Relations between the neighbors have often been strained after the Australian-led intervention in East Timor in 1999 and fears in Australia of attacks by Islamic hardliners based in Indonesia. -- AFP