|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 16 January 2005 |
 |
|
 |
World |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
US military to exit from quake relief BANGKOK, Jan 15 (AFP) The United States wants to scale down its military relief operations in Asia's quake disaster zones and hand the tasks over to countries affected by the disaster, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Saturday. "We'd like to be out of this business as soon as we responsibly can," Wolfowitz told reporters in Bangkok before flying to Thailand's Utapao military airbase which serves as the headquarters for regional relief operations. "The US military has a lot of other work to do," he added. "As soon as our military folks can pass these responsibilities on to other organizations, well, we will," he said. He did not provide a timeframe. But he said the ultimate goal remained the alleviation of suffering and the provision of relief supplies to those affected by what he described as the "staggering" disaster. He also praised the unprecedented worldwide relief effort which has already reached into the billions of dollars. The US military was eager to begin a transitional phase that could see them hand much of their work over to governments, other militaries, non-governmental organisations and aid agencies, Wolfowitz said. "My sense is already their role in Thailand is leveling off if not decreasing," he said of the US military. Indonesia said recently it would impose a deadline of the end of March for the withdrawal of foreign troops providing relief assistance in catastrophically hit Aceh province. The US State Department has said Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla clarified Friday with the American envoy in Jakarta that no fixed time limit would be imposed on foreign troops and that three months was only an estimate. But US marines delivering aid to survivors were forced to scale back their presence on shore and move to ships to address sensitivities in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Wolfowitz said he felt Jakarta was not setting deadlines so much as "setting goals and expressing their own desire to take a responsibility in their own country as quickly as possible." "We applaud that," he said. Wolfowitz was to fly to Indonesia later Saturday and meet with government officials there in the course of his travels through the region. Armed forces from around the world, including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, France and the United States, have been providing assistance in Indonesia's catastrophically hit Aceh province in the wake of the December 26 disaster which killed more than 110,000 Indonesians. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
