Bush, Annan Compete Over Tsunami Aid as Toll Soars

UNITED NATIONS - As the death toll from the tsunami in South Asia surged past 119,000 and the unprecedented magnitude of the disaster sank in, clear signs emerged yesterday of competition among nations, international organizations, and coalitions over which would be the most helpful to the victims.

A day after President Bush announced the formation of a "core group," composed of America, Australia, India, and Japan, to lead the relief effort, Secretary-General Annan tried to dispel the notion that the United Nations could lose its leading humanitarian role in Asia, as it saw its role in Iraq eclipsed when the "coalition of the willing" was formed outside the U.N. to oust Saddam Hussein.

Around the Indian Ocean, the death toll climbed without signs of ceasing. The count "will rise further today," the coordinator of the U.N. relief effort, Jan Egeland, predicted at a press conference alongside Mr. Annan, who returned yesterday from a year-end vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

In Sri Lanka and India, authorities were sufficiently concerned about a second tsunami resulting from an aftershock to order evacuations of several coastal areas, the Associated Press reported. Local experts said, however, that the magnitude of the aftershock was un likely to produce tidal waves similar to the ones that occurred last week.

The primary concern yesterday among rescue workers was the spread of disease resulting from the lack of clean drinking water. "This morning we were informed by the World Health Organization that diarrheal disease is on the clear rise," Mr. Egeland said. "I have also heard that respiratory disease is on the rise, and we could be in the situation that more children could die from diarrhea in the next weeks than those who were killed by the tsunami."

Conceding that "it is conceivable that one may not be able to fulfill every possible need of each of the countries and each of the coastal villages that have been destroyed," Mr. Annan said, "If we fall short, at least we can be satisfied that we did everything possible."

One diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the catastrophe could propel the embattled Mr. Annan's image the same way September 11 propelled Mr. Bush's.

Yesterday, Mr. Annan repeated his intention to launch a one-time flash appeal on January 6, in which it is expected several billions of dollars will be raised. He also talked about a separate pledging conference on January 11, in which funds would be raised for future needs, making this the largest U.N. humanitarian effort, with the exception of the oil-for-food program formed to aid Iraqis under sanctions.

As Mr. Annan announced that cash contributions worldwide were being made at a fast pace, reaching $500 million yesterday - half of it from the World Bank - Secretary of State Powell tried to discourage the perception of a global competition for the do-gooder prize. "The press is trying to make it a contest, to make it an auction, it is very unfortunate," he said.

Mr. Powell made a round of visits to the embassies of nations that were hardest hit before making a call to Mr. Annan. The secretary of state is expected to participate tonight in the New Year's festivities at Times Square. Early this morning he will use his New York trip to meet at the United Nations with Mr. Annan. And Mr. Bush announced yesterday that a delegation of experts led by Mr. Powell will travel to Asia on Sunday to assess the need for further American assistance.

That, as well as yesterday's video-conference call, was meant to coordinate the relief efforts, but presumably also to lay to rest U.N. concerns about the core group, the establishment of which was seen at Turtle Bay as an American shot across the bow.

In the wake of Mr. Egeland's comment earlier in the week about "stingy" contributions from rich nations, U.N. officials were concerned that Mr. Bush's announcement of the formation of the group was meant to bypass the U.N. leadership. Those concerns were allayed after the conference call, a U.N. official told The New York Sun.

"The core group will support the United Nations effort," Mr. Annan said at the press conference. "We also expect the core group to grow. There are other countries that have indicated a desire to join the core group, and I think it would be a good thing that we have a real international effort."

He said Mr. Egeland's office intended to create a headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, that would coordinate all the international efforts. "We will coordinate with them, as we will coordinate with the E.U.," Mr. Egeland told the Sun, adding, "As Colin Powell said, the United Nations is in the lead of the global efforts."

Mr. Powell, however, said efforts by the core group would be "complementary" to those led by the world body.

"The U.N. will have lead international responsibility," he acknowledged in an interview with the news agency Agence France-Presse, "But there are a lot of international groupings and organizations that will do their own thing that feeds into this."

The Dutch U.N ambassador, Dirk Jan Van Den Berg, told the Sun that the European Union expects to join the core group as well. "This is not a closed group," he said. "It is open to new members."

He hastened to add that the E.U.'s contributions, including both the organization and its member states, amounted to more than $133 million. Some European nations, notably Spain, pledged contributions in a way that seemed designed to surpass America's early promise of $35 million.

The World Bank's chief, James Wolfensohn, who was host to Mr. Annan at his ranch in Wyoming this week, announced yesterday that the bank would contribute $250 million, Mr. Annan said. "We are beginning to look not only at the short term, but also at the longer-term recovery and reconstruction, together," the secretary-general said.

Promising "a lot more" than the initial $35 million America has pledged so far, Mr. Powell said: "We have to realize this is probably a multiyear effort to get on top of this." He also said America supports debt relief.

Mr. Annan stressed that the United Nations' resources are spread thin already and noted that other crises, including Sudan's, still need attention. "Not only are we going to be stretched in terms of manpower and human resources," he said, "but we are also going to be stretched financially and technically. We hope that the response will be sustained across the board and that it will not be robbing Peter to pay Paul."

As Mr. Powell said six planes from the American Agency for International Development have been sent to the area, U.N. and American officials talked about a continued bottleneck, because the local infrastructure at several hard-hit nations cannot accommodate all the air and sea traffic, and poor roads cannot carry all the trucks full of food and medicine that continue to arrive from all over the world.

One of the issues discussed in yesterday's conference call was a fear of military expertise in rescue missions, as was displayed by Sri Lanka's refusal to accept 70 Israeli military experts earlier this week. According to one of the participants, Mr. Annan said that while in the past there was a need to separate "bread and bombs," a crisis of this magnitude requires that such distinctions not be made.