U.S. Cautious on Future Aid for Tsunami

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&e=1&u=/ap/20050106/ap_on_re_as/tsunami_powell

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Thursday the United States is taking a wait-and-see attitude before pledging more cash to tsunami relief, but is helping in other ways such as easing restrictions on military cooperation with Indonesia.


"I think it's prudent to be careful with respect to these numbers," Powell said at a news conference following an international summit on relief coordination. "These are not insignificant numbers."


At the meeting, he announced that the U.S.-led group of countries that organized initial relief operations will turn its work over to the United Nations (news - web sites).


President Bush (news - web sites) had set up the initial relief organization outside the world body. The Bush administration is sometimes suspicious of the U.N. bureaucracy, but had insisted that the separate group of nations was not at odds with the United Nations.


The United States will retain control of relief flights by its military at a special command center set up in Thailand.

[Moderator]

1. duplicate topic

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