Reuters Posted online: Thursday, January 06, 2005 at 1304 hours IST Updated: Thursday, January 06, 2005 at 2043 hours IST
Jakarta, January 6: An effort by the United States, Japan, India and Australia to coordinate tsunami relief will be disbanded and folded into the broader UN-led operations, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday.
"The core group helped to catalyse the international response," Powell told a tsunami relief conference in Jakarta according to a prepared text released by the State Department. "Having served its purpose, it will ... now fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations."
The "core group" was announced by President George W. Bush at his Crawford, Texas ranch on December 29 as he tried to dispel criticism that his initial reaction to the disaster was slow and the initial US financial aid of $15 million stingy.
The United States has since raised its aid contribution to$350 million -- a figure Powell said would probably rise as the needs become clearer. It has sent an aircraft carrier and other military ships and planes to the region to ferry food and water to survivors of the December 26 tsunami, which has killed about 150,000 people around the Indian Ocean.
It was unclear whether the extensive US Military assets in the region would take direction from the United Nations on providing airlift and other logistical help to the relief effort.
The "core group" has held daily phone meetings with the UN officials, but at the time it was formed analysts wondered whether its work might conflict with the United Nations, which is coordinating aid from some 40 countries.
Jakarta, January 6: An effort by the United States, Japan, India and Australia to coordinate tsunami relief will be disbanded and folded into the broader UN-led operations, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday.
