*EPF203 12/28/2004
Powell Outlines U.S. Help to Tsunami Victims
(Stresses need to send appropriate aid to each affected country) (680)

By Peggy B. Hu
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States is providing funds, disaster assistance experts, and relief supplies to help victims of the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that occurred in the Indian Ocean December 26, according to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In several television interviews December 28, Powell said the United States has committed $15 million to disaster relief agencies, including the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, and is providing disaster assistance experts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and military planes loaded with relief supplies.

At a briefing later in the day, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said Powell met with USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and they identified an additional $20 million to add to the $15 million the United States has already pledged.��

Ereli said this money will be disbursed to U.S. missions and to local nongovernmental organizations and other organizations to get equipment, supplies and relief to the people in need as those needs are identified and as institutions are identified that are capable of making use of the money.

The government of Thailand has granted access to the Utapao Air Base as a regional hub to coordinate assistance and the White House said a dozen C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Pacific Command are transporting relief supplies, including food, water, blankets and emergency shelter.

Speaking on CBS's Early Show, Powell said he believes "a lot more aid is going to be needed," but he said that it is important to make a careful assessment of the different needs of each country in order to allocate aid as effectively as possible.

Disaster relief coordinators will need to see "what each country can do for itself and make sure that we apply the aid in those places where it is most desperately needed," he said on NBC's Today Show.�� "Some countries, larger countries, are able to handle it better than smaller countries or countries that are less developed," he said.

Speaking on the Fox and Friends, Powell also stressed the importance of sending appropriate aid.

"We have to make sure that we send people what they really need, and not just flood them with things they don't need, which then clutters up the entire transportation system," he said.�� Powell referred listeners to the State Department Web site (http://www.state.gov/) for guidance on how to make appropriate donations toward disaster assistance.

According to Powell, the United States has so far received direct requests from Sri Lanka for assistance and general requests from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.�� He said that he has been in touch with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and "every one of the foreign ministers of the affected countries to let them know that they should make their requests known to our embassies so that we can respond."

In response to a comment made by U.N. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland ��December 27 regarding the willingness of different countries to provide financial assistance to relief efforts, Powell said that the United States "is not stingy."

The United States is "the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world," Powell said on CNN's American Morning.�� "We do more to help people who are suffering from lack of food or poverty or suffering from HIV/AIDS, and this Administration has a particularly good record in increasing the amount of assistance that we give to the world.�� But obviously we have to see what the need is in this terrible tragedy and we will respond to the need along with the rest of the international community."

At the State Department briefing, Ereli said, ����We know the needs will be greater. This is a disaster of almost unimaginable dimension and it's going to require a massive support for some time."�� The clear message, he said, ����is that we are committed to helping.����

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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