Banda Aceh (Indonesia), January 1
Substantial help began reaching refugees in Indonesia’s devastated Aceh province today amid depressing rain, as the US military arrived in force to speed the flow of critically needed aid.

Supplies started pouring into the airport at the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, yesterday, but much of it failed to get distributed to the nearly 110,000 made homeless by Sunday’s massive earthquake and the powerful tsunami it triggered.

Hundreds of survivors gathered at the airport today, captivated by the hive of activity created by the arrival of five U.S. Sea Hawk helicopters, Singaporean military Super Puma choppers and Australian and Indonesian Hercules transports.

“We just got here, we’re here to help and we’re going to keep working until the mission is done ... Where they say they need (aid) we will move it,” Capt Larry Burt, commander of U.S. Carrier Air Wing Two, said.

The disaster is now known to have killed more than 80,000 people on northern Sumatra island, all but a handful of them in Aceh. Officials say the final toll may exceed 1,00,000.

But while aid was now finally getting through to some of the needy after days of delay — a refugee camp at a mosque in Banda Aceh had ample supplies of food early today — many were still searching for help as the world saw in the new year.

“This is no time for celebration. I am now going to another refugee camp because I hear there is a food supply there,” dishevelled survivor Armiah, 32, said as he walked in the town of Lhoknga, 20 km miles west of Banda Aceh.

Armiah lost his wife, mother and two brothers when the tsunami destroyed his home in the fishing village of Khueh, but managed to rescue his five-month-old son as he clung to a tree.

“I haven’t received anything yet. We have just been using what is left over (from the tsunami),” he said.

Faced with the possible spread of disease from polluted water supplies and dozens of bodies lying untouched, filling the air with a nauseating stench, some survivors — many wearing face masks — were starting to flee Banda Aceh.

But at the same tine others were starting to return to try and retrieve anything that was left, with cars being towed out of the mud, more traffic on the roads and markets re-opening. Long queues were also starting to form for kerosene.

Nature itself continued to be unkind, with quake aftershocks overnight rattling homes and shelters, sending many people scurrying outside as early morning rain dampened spirits.

“When it rains, it’s so hard to sleep because the ground gets wet,” said Nurlina, an eight-month pregnant 32-year-old mother of three, as her children clung to her legs.

Shelters were inadequate to keep some goods and cardboard sleeping sheets from getting wet.

Razali, 33, said there was enough food in the camp, but people needed medical help. “We need doctors. The children are sick, they have worms and fever.”

“The water is not clean. We drink and bathe there. Look, it’s near the toilets,” said Rafika, a 40-year-old mother of three.

A UN health official, who declined to be named, said aid workers were seeing a lot of infected injuries among children, respiratory tract illness, diarrhoea and mothers struggling to feed their babies because they could not produce any milk.

“The big problem here is that, compared to other disasters, the health system has collapsed — there are just no local health workers,” the official said. — Reuters

Jakarta, January 1
A strong earthquake struck under the sea off Indonesia’s Sumatra Islands today, seismologists said.

The Hong Kong Observatory reported a “severe earthquake” at 0622 GMT (1152 IST), with an estimated magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre 350 km west of Banda Aceh.

The quake was close to the epicentre of last Sunday’s earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and unleashed tsunamis which killed at least 125,000 people around Asia.

However, the State Seismological Bureau of China (SSB) said the new tremor had a magnitude of 7.0, Xinhua said.

“This is the biggest earthquake we’ve monitored in the region since December 26 when there were earthquakes of 8.7 and a 7.5 in magnitude,” an official with the State Seismological Bureau of China said.

“It is hard to say if there will be more tsunamis because there are a lot of factors involved.”

The US Geological Survey’s website said the quake registered 6.5 on the Richter scale at 0622 GMT (1152 IST). Thai seismologists measured it at 5.4.

An official at France’s Observatory of Earth Sciences of Strasbourg said the new quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, making it a large tremor although nowhere near as big as last Sunday’s.

There was no danger of another tidal wave, the Strasbourg centre said. Seismologists in Bangladesh also put the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.5. — AFP

London, January 1
A British man celebrating his 34th birthday in the Maldives saved his family from the tsunami when he and his wife climbed a palm tree with their three young children on their backs and tied them all to it with beach towels.

Stephen Boulton told Britain’s Press Association newswire today how he managed to get his wife Ray, 33, and their children, aged 12, four and 18 months, high up in the branches to safety where they clung for five hours.

“We were on the pier when the tide just came in so suddenly and before we knew, it was up to our chests,” Boulton said from his home in Balfron, Scotland.

“We waded through these absolutely horrendous currents to the tree and clambered up with the kids on our backs. The tide rose to around three metres.

“I strapped them to the branches with the four towels. Suddenly it was like someone had pulled a plug and the tide just swept out back into the ocean carrying everything, people, sunbeds, bungalows. It was awful,” he said.

The plumbing and heating engineer, who is also a part-time fireman, said his experience as a scuba diver and mountaineer had taught him to keep a cool head in an emergency.

After the tide withdrew, Boulton, who is originally from near the English city of Stoke-on-Trent, leapt into action, helping to co-ordinate a head count of people on the Maldives island of Kandooma, which had about 100 people on it. — AFP

Washington, January 1
Pakistan is not among the countries that grant political rights and civil liberties to their citizens, says a report released this week by a Washington-based human rights organisation, the Freedom House.

Instead, the 2005 Freedom in the World Report, an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries, lists Pakistan in the ‘Not Free’ category.

With data as fresh as of November 30, 2004, Pakistan has been placed in category 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 as the best.

In 1994 and 1995, Pakistan was listed as a ‘partly free’ country with a rating of 3 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties. In 1996-97, the ratings fell to 4 and 5 and the worst was recorded in 1999 when for political rights Pakistan got a 7 ranking.

Of the 49 countries rated ‘Not Free’, 19 received the worst possible numerical rating (7) for political rights. The broadest restrictions on political activity take place in Belarus, Burma, Cuba, China, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iraq, Laos, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Azad Kashmir also received the lowest political rights rating besides Chechnya (Russia), Tibet (China) and Western Sahara (Morocco). Kashmir was placed among ‘partly free’ territories and given grade 5 both for political rights and civil liberties. Both parts of Kashmir, however, are listed among disputed territories.

The broadest violations of civil liberties — including freedom of speech, rule of law, and personal autonomy — take place in nine countries: Burma, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan. Chechnya and Tibet, although listed as disputed territories, are also included in this category.

A total of eight countries — Burma, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Turkmenistan — receive the lowest possible scores for both political rights and civil liberties, making them the most repressive regimes in the world. Chechnya and Tibet also fall into this category.