U.N. takes charge of effort to help tsunami victims

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The United Nations yesterday took command of the global relief effort for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as the United States agreed to dissolve the informal “core group” of countries that initially coordinated aid.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told a daylong summit of regional and world leaders gathered here that the U.S.-organized core group — including Japan, Australia, India, Canada and the Netherlands — had “helped to catalyze the international response,” but now would “fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations.”

But donor nations will continue to control how their money is spent, and the U.N. will only coordinate the relief. The Bush administration emphasizes that the U.N., which has been wracked by accusations of embezzlement of oil-for-food money, will not have access to the cash.

Mr. Powell’s announcement came as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlined a $977 million, six-month spending package for the region, including food, medicine, shelter and reconstruction funds.

Overall, more than $4 billion has been pledged in aid for victims, with the death toll above 140,000 and as many as 5 million people left homeless.

Mr. Powell later told reporters that the Bush administration would partially lift a ban on military sales to Indonesia to offer spare parts for giant Hercules C-130 cargo planes that have become the principal delivery vehicle for aid to stricken regions of the country.

Just a third of Indonesia’s fleet of 24 C-130s is flying because of a lack of parts and repair delays.

Indonesia is believed to have suffered more than 94,000 fatalities from the Dec. 26 earthquake and killer waves, which claimed victims in 12 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

U.S. officials emphasized that the United States and other major donors would retain control of how their money would be spent, with the United Nations limited to a coordinating role.

The Bush administration has pledged at least $350 million, a figure that does not include millions of dollars being spent each day to deploy the U.S. military on relief operations in the region.

Australia, which made the largest single pledge of more than $800 million, said yesterday it prefers to deal directly with Indonesia and other affected countries in disbursing its aid.

“That is a much better outcome than pushing money through international organizations,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told CNN in an interview.

Mr. Powell said the United Nations would play “a lead role, but not the only lead role” in coordinating relief.

He pointedly noted that U.S. military personnel and private aid organizations have done virtually all of the relief work to date around Indonesia’s Aceh province, with U.N. humanitarian organizations still struggling to establish a major presence.

He also said a regional U.S. relief center at the military base in Utapao, Thailand, will remain in operation, and may even expand cooperation with foreign military and civilian relief groups.

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