|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 21 February 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Politics | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
| Former Presidents to tour Matara today: Warm welcome for Bush Snr, Clinton by Manjula Fernando Former US Presidents George Bush Snr and Bill Clinton who are on a high-profile tsunami reconstruction mission representing the US Government and its people arrived in Colombo last evening. The former Presidents, who arrived in a special US aircraft, were received by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and Ports, Aviation and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera at the Bandaranaike International Airport at 4.15 pm. Clinton, the United Nations's designated envoy for tsunami reconstruction for Asia and Bush Snr met President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga last evening to discuss reconstruction and relief assistance to Sri Lanka, which was followed by a banquet at the President's House. Before the meeting the two former Presidents spoke live on an American TV network. A temporary housing units program funded by USAID and a US tsunami trauma counselling program for children in Matara will be visited by the two former Presidents today before their departure to the Maldives. The idyllic islands will be their last destination on this lightning four-day tour expected to keep the spotlight on the tsunami hit countries to maintain a continued flow of international assistance as urged by the United Nations. The former political rivals' tour from February 19 to 21 arranged by US president George W Bush began from Thailand's Ban Namkhem, a small fishing village devastated by the December 26 tsunami. They then travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province yesterday. Visiting a mosque in Lampuuk, near Banda Aceh, Clinton and Bush met some of the few hundred people from the surrounding area who survived the tsunamis. "I have never seen this... it's unbelievable," said a visibly-moved Bush. "What we have seen on television is just a small part," an emotional Clinton added. "We have seen it with our own eyes. In this village, 80 percent of the people were killed." He warned that a complete recovery in the entire region would take three to five years. President George W. Bush called upon the former Presidents to head a nationwide private fund raising effort in the US. Soon afterwards the President and the First Lady together with the two former Presidents visited the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington to express condolences. Clinton visited the New York Buddhist Viharaya in December to extend his support for the fund raising campaign initiated by the temple for Sri Lanka's tsunami relief assistance. President Bush last week promised to ask Congress for an additional $ 600 million, more than the $ 350 million it has already pledged to back relief and reconstruction efforts in the affected countries. An unprecedented seven billion dollars in tsunami aid has been pledged by the international community to date, but Clinton said a further four to five billion would be needed to rebuild homes and basic infrastructure. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
