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05/01/2005
Indonesian government declines Gurkha aid
The Indonesian government has rejected an offer to send Gurkhas to help with the aid effort in the wake of the tsunami disaster that devastated the country over a week ago.
Britain had offered 120 troops from the Brunei-based 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles to the region, but a Foreign Office spokesman said that the government had said that it did not require further ground troops in the country.
Declining the offer, the Indonesian government said that their main priority at present was technical assistance and the Ministry of Defence have confirmed that the country has accepted the UK's offer of two helicopters to help with the aid effort.
Indonesia remains the country worst affected by the Asian Tsunami, which struck on Boxing Day, with 94,000 deaths confirmed so far. However, the United Nations estimates that the country's death toll will probably reach at least 100,000.
The Indonesian government has called a Tsunami Summit meeting for January 6 in the country's capital, Jakarta. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is set to attend.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, Mr Straw said: "The key purpose of the meeting is to look at ways in which the international effort in Indonesia, but indeed elsewhere, can be better co-ordinated. We will be looking at longer term issues of reconstruction and support for the populations and governments as well as the immediate issues of aid to those people who have been stricken by this disaster."
(KmcA/SP)
Britain had offered 120 troops from the Brunei-based 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles to the region, but a Foreign Office spokesman said that the government had said that it did not require further ground troops in the country.
Declining the offer, the Indonesian government said that their main priority at present was technical assistance and the Ministry of Defence have confirmed that the country has accepted the UK's offer of two helicopters to help with the aid effort.
Indonesia remains the country worst affected by the Asian Tsunami, which struck on Boxing Day, with 94,000 deaths confirmed so far. However, the United Nations estimates that the country's death toll will probably reach at least 100,000.
The Indonesian government has called a Tsunami Summit meeting for January 6 in the country's capital, Jakarta. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is set to attend.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, Mr Straw said: "The key purpose of the meeting is to look at ways in which the international effort in Indonesia, but indeed elsewhere, can be better co-ordinated. We will be looking at longer term issues of reconstruction and support for the populations and governments as well as the immediate issues of aid to those people who have been stricken by this disaster."
(KmcA/SP)
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