A helicopter crash and a powerful tremor in Indonesia hindered relief operations Monday for the millions of victims of the tsunami and earthquake that rocked Asia more than two weeks ago. 

Operations continued yesterday but underlined by new weather dangers, growing concerns over activities by separatist groups and a conference of battered island nations that would have gone virtually unnoticed three weeks ago.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the US Defense Department warned that a cyclone was moving toward the southern coast of Sri Lanka and could disrupt relief work there.

The warning was overshadowed by the crash of a US military Seahawk near the crowded airport in the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, the hub of the huge effort to help millions in Indonesia.

Captain Kendall L. Card, commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is stationed off the coast of Sumatra Island and is anchoring the American aid effort, said four servicemen aboard the aircraft had very minor injuries and six were hurt more seriously.

The crash just after 7:30 AM was blamed on a "possible mechanical failure." The US military briefly halted all helicopter flights taking aid to the interior, and although operations soon resumed, they were not at the usual scale.

Earlier in the morning, panic-stricken people in the devastated city fled from their homes and shelters after a 6.2 magnitude aftershock hit at 5 AM, officials and residents said.

"There has been no report of casualties and we're still gathering more data," said Sutiono, an official at Indonesia's Meteorological Bureau.

The global response to the disaster has been unprecedented -- governments and agencies have pledged more than US$5 billion in aid and companies and individuals have promised US$1.5 billion. Tens of thousands of people are still missing, while much of the relief effort has focused on getting food, drinking water and shelter to victims in Aceh.

Underlining fears that the huge displacement of people could serve as a cover for separatists, Indonesia's military beefed up security in the area on Sunday and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sought to reassure relief workers after a burst of gunfire outside a deputy police chief's house and near the main UN aid office in Banda Aceh.

"The security operation conducted by Indonesia's military and police will protect, secure the humanitarian efforts," Yudhoyono said.

The Indonesian military and those from Australia and Singapore are also taking part in the relief operation.

Australia is monitoring the threat to aid workers from the separatist struggle but its troops will play no military role there, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday, although the number of Australian troops in Aceh is set to rise to 860 on Thursday.

Still, Indonesia's military forces say they are not conducting offensive operations against Acehnese rebels, despite reports that they have attacked aid convoys and even briefly kidnapped Indonesian relief workers.

Commander of Indonesian Armed Forces Endriartono Sutarto said his soldiers on Sumatra Island were only engaged in the relief effort. There are an estimated 30,000 Indonesian troops on Sumatra Island. Before the disaster, most were fighting rebels from the Free Aceh Movement, known by its Indonesian acronym GAM.

More donations

As nations already taking part in the relief were digging in for the long-haul, oil-rich Kuwait multiplied its aid pledge for Asia's tsunami victims tenfold to US$100 million.

"In light of the tragic catastrophe and reflecting the feelings of Kuwaitis towards the victims in those countries ... the cabinet decided to increase the donation of the State of Kuwait so the total value of aid will be US$100 million," said a statement issued after a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the US operation, which involves the Lincoln battle group and a Marine task force, forms the largest US military operation in Southeast Asia since the Vietnam War.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US should plan to provide long-term aid.

He said he would recommend to President George W. Bush "that we stay engaged, that this is a long-term prospect, that we use our money not just for immediate humanitarian relief but for economic assistance for infrastructure development."

William Crowder, who commands the Lincoln's five-ship battle group, said his forces were at the Indonesian military's beck and call. Crowder said coordination of the massive relief operation was still a mishmash.

"Who's organizing the NGOs, I'm not sure. I understand the UN was to get them together. Without being critical, I think they are making a nascent attempt at coordination," he said.

For more than a week, US military helicopters have been rushing food, water and medical supplies to areas inaccessible to other aid worker and in desperate need.

In Sri Lanka, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that with re-construction starting on January 15, "we can certainly welcome tourists in three months, maximum four."

Plight of island nations

Around the world, the tsunami has shone the spotlight on small island states.

A UN conference on the future of more than 40 small island states around the world opened on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius yesterday.

"We meet here in Mauritius at a time of terrible death and destruction caused by the Asian tsunami two weeks ago," Anwarul Chowdhury, UN under secretary-general told more than 2,000 participants.

Faced with challenges ranging from hurricanes and climate change to trade losses and threats from HIV/AIDS, they are counting on the Mauritius meeting to present their case to the international community.

The conference would scarcely have made headlines a month ago, but the huge tidal waves unleashed by the Asian undersea earthquake have highlighted the vulnerability of the world's smallest countries.

(China Daily January 11, 2005)