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Tsunami Aid Stems Unrest, Boosts U.S. Security, Powell Says

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Times Staff Writer

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Tuesday that American aid to the stricken Indian Ocean region and other foreign assistance programs could help turn the developing world away from terrorism and thus strengthen U.S. security.

After a day of touring tsunami-battered Thailand with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Powell said officials believed humanitarian aid was “in the best interest of those countries, and it’s in our best interest, and it dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that might give rise to terrorist activity.”

Powell told reporters that, although the United States didn’t care what religion the aid recipients followed, its $350 million for the victims of last week’s earthquake and tsunami did give “the Muslim world and the rest of the world an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action.”

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The secretary’s comments, among his most candid on the connection between overseas aid and U.S. security, were made as he and President Bush’s brother began a four-day trip aimed at demonstrating American concern for victims of the disaster.

The officials toured relief facilities at the popular tourist destination of Phuket, where more than 5,000 people were believed to have perished. They told Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai that the U.S. would provide technical help for building a tsunami warning system and advice on repairing environmental damage.

“One thing the Thai people can be sure of is that they have a friend in the U.S.,” Powell said during an appearance before a small crowd at the Phuket regional government offices.

Later Tuesday, Powell and Bush flew to Jakarta to meet with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda and prepare for a trip today to the devastated province of Aceh. Powell made his comments on aid and security during an appearance with Wirajuda.

Powell shed some light on a question that had drawn increasing speculation: the extent of casualties in Myanmar, formerly Burma. The government has released little information on the country’s losses, and some analysts have speculated that its death toll might be considerably higher than the official count of 59, in a region where more than 150,000 have died.

Powell said Myanmar’s assessment was consistent with U.S. surveillance satellite photos of the country, which suggested that it “was not hit as hard as other countries in the region.” Another senior administration official said information from Red Cross officials also seemed to corroborate the estimate.

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In Phuket, Powell and Bush visited a regional government center where hundreds of Thais and others milled about, looking for clothing, food and other assistance. They also toured a “consular command center,” where about two dozen governments are working together to locate and assist their nationals who were caught in the disaster. The white government building bore photocopied pictures of missing Europeans, Americans, Thais and others.

Powell and Bush heard from U.S. consular officials who have been working almost around the clock trying to locate missing Americans and helping others arrange to leave the country or send loved ones’ remains home. Separately, they were briefed by officials who are trying, often with great difficulty, to use DNA sampling and other techniques to identify decomposed remains.

Gov. Bush praised the relief workers and government officials who have taken part in the effort. “These are true heroes,” he said. He added that “hundreds of thousands of Americans of all walks of life have been moved by” the disaster. He told of a girl who sold cookies outside a church to raise $138 to contribute to aid shipments.

Powell and Bush also toured two huge hangars at the airport in Bangkok, the capital, where U.S. and Thai officials have been accumulating mountains of bottled water, packaged food and other supplies to be dispatched to coastal areas. Rudimentary coffins were piled nearby.

The two officials did not meet Tuesday with people who were hurt in the tsunami. Almost all of the several hundred Americans who were injured in the disaster had left the island, officials said.

After their visit to Aceh today, Powell will return to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, for an international donors conference and Bush will fly to Washington to celebrate his parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. On Friday, Powell will fly to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, to discuss conditions in that nation.

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