BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Rescue workers pulled thousands more rotting corpses from the mud and debris of flattened towns along the Sumatran coast Saturday, two weeks after surging walls of water caused unprecedented destruction on the shores of the Indian Ocean. The death toll in 11 countries passed 150,000.
Staggered by the scale of the disaster, aid officials announced plans to feed as many as 2-million survivors each day for the next six months, focusing particularly on young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
World Food Program executive director James Morris said at a Jakarta news conference that the operation likely would cost $180-million.
He said the agency has now dispatched enough food in Sri Lanka to help feed 750,000 people there for 15 days. The agency was feeding 150,000 people in Indonesia and expected that to increase to 400,000 within a week and possibly reach as high as 1-million eventually.
World governments have pledged nearly $4-billion in aid - the biggest relief package ever. The United States has pledged $350-million, which Bush called only an "initial commitment" and essentially a line of credit that can be spent as American relief officials identify needs. It ranks fourth behind Australia, Japan and Germany.
The World Bank said it will consider significantly boosting its aid, perhaps to as much as $1.5-billion. It already has pledged $175-million in assistance to the 11 countries in Asia and Africa hit by the Dec. 26 disaster, but bank president James Wolfensohn said he was flexible on the amount.
Bush uses radio speech to urge tsunami aid
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Saturday offered a long list of ways the United States is trying to help victims of the deadly tsunami in South Asia.
"We are rushing food, medicine and other vital supplies to the region," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We are focusing efforts on helping the women and children who need special attention, including protection from the evil of human trafficking."
In his radio remarks, Bush also encouraged Americans to continue giving generously out of their own pockets to private relief organizations - singling out charities such as the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Salvation Army, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE and AmeriCares as particularly reputable. He referred people to a White House Web site - www.usafreedomcorps.gov - for other suggestions.
"I urge all Americans to contribute as they are able," the president said.
Bush also has signed legislation aimed at inspiring individual check-writing. The new law, which he signed Friday, allows people who donate to the effort to claim deductions on their 2004 tax returns, if they contribute before end of the month.
Shots ring out near U.N. relief headquarters
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Suspected rebels fired shots early Sunday at the home of a top police official near the United Nations' relief headquarters in the tsunami-ravaged city of Banda Aceh, officials said. No casualties were reported.
Members of the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for an independent homeland for more than 20 years, fired at officers guarding the home of the deputy provincial police chief, about 100 yards from the U.N. building, Sgt. Bambang Hariyanpo said.
