|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 04 January 2005 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Top world leaders here to boost relief drive by Manjula Fernando United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and several other world leaders will visit Sri Lanka this week in the aftermath of the tsunami which devastated the country's north-eastern and southern coastal belt killing nearly 30,000. The UN Secretary General will arrive in Colombo this weekend after attending the special ASEAN leaders' meeting on 'the aftermath of earthquake and the tsunami', which is to be held in Indonesia on Thursday.
He is expected to visit some of the hardest hit areas in the country during this trip, the details of which are yet to be announced by the UN headquarters in New York. Annan will also visit Indonesia's worst affected parts to witness the destruction caused by the tidal waves triggered by the strongest earthquake in 50 years. According to the UN headquarters, the Secretary General is scheduled to leave for Jakarta on Monday evening from where he will make a 'consolidated flash appeal' for immediate relief for victims. The UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Relief Operations Margareta Wahlstrom was on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka to explore ways and means of how the UN could be of further assistance. She met President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on Sunday. With many countries and international donor organisations pledging immediate assistance, the international relief effort has raised nearly US $ 2 billion by this week. Sri Lanka and Indonesia were the worst hit by last week's tsunami, one of the biggest natural disasters in history. Over 10 countries in the Indian ocean rim were affected in the disaster and the death toll has risen to 144,000 from Asia to Africa. French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Balzy is also due in the country this week to monitor relief efforts supported by the French medical teams in the North and East and to start a continuous airborne relief supply from France to Sri Lanka, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. The French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier was the first foreign dignitary to arrive in Sri Lanka after the calamity. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy Ray was due in Colombo yesterday to visit affected areas and witness the on going relief operations. A Swiss emergency aid team arrived in Sri Lanka early last week to attend the injured and displaced people. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy who is on a five day tour of affected countries, also arrived in Colombo on Sunday. She visited relief camps and hospitals in the affected areas including Matara and Galle on Sunday to meet children and their families hit by the disaster. She toured northern parts of the country yesterday. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
