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SRI LANKA, Jan 7 (AFP): US Secretary of State Colin Powell toured Sri Lanka's battered coastline Friday as the tsunami relief focus shifted to the island amid a bitter row between government and rebels over aid distribution.
UN chief Kofi Annan was due here later Friday for a separate mission as a growing list of international figures queued up to view first-hand the devastation caused when a giant wall of seawater slammed into Sri Lanka's shores, killing at least 30,615 people.
Most are visiting after attending the one-day summit of world leaders in Jakarta Thursday called to organise what will ultimately amount to several billion dollars in relief and long-term reconstruction aid for the Indian Ocean region, where at least 165,000 people in 11 nations were killed.
After arriving in Colombo, Powell went to the presidential house where he wrote in the visitors book, saying: "On this sad occasion I assure you of the support and friendship of the American (people) as you recover and rebuild cities, towns and families."
The United States' top diplomat, the first Secretary of State to visit Sri Lanka since 1972, then went by helicopter to the devastated southern region of Galle where US Marines are to be based for relief operations.
The sight of destruction was not as bad as that which he had witnessed in the Indonesian province of Aceh but nevertheless testified to the fury of the tsunamis which displaced nearly one million people.
Powell's motorcade drove through the centre of Galle, where homes and shops were crushed by the massive waves and dozens of fishing boats still litter the streets.
"I had a chance to witness the destruction first hand and only by seeing it on the ground can you really appreciate what it must have been like on that terrible day," Powell said through an aide.
"But I am impressed to see people cleaning up, helping their neighbours, starting to clean up shops and homes."
According to latest figures, 4,356 people are still missing.
The number of people displaced has dropped sharply to 572,578 as many left to stay with their relatives or to rebuild their damaged homes.
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan also arrived on the island Friday and was to tour the west coast accompanied by the Sri Lankan premier, Seoul's embassy here said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Annan was expected to start a two-day visit in the evening, a spokesman at the UN office here said.
"He will be touring along with World Bank president James Wolfhensohn to some of the affected regions in the south and the east," UN spokesman Sanak Samarsinghe said. Annan was also expected to visit Hambantota.
Annan at the Jakarta summit made an impassioned appeal for nearly a billion dollars of immediate aid, warning that without rapid action disease in devastated areas could send the death toll soaring.
The squabble between government and rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), meanwhile, has cast a shadow over the massive international effort to assist Sri Lanka and has raised fears that rather than helping heal the rift between the two camps, the disaster has rekindled tension.
The rebels accuse government soldiers of hijacking relief intended for survivors in the north and eastern areas they control, and have slammed the government's decision to post troops in camps for displaced people.
The government denies relief has been diverted from rebel areas, and claims more aid is heading to the Tamil-dominated north and east than to the Sinhalese-majority south.
It says the troops have been posted in the camps to maintain discipline and have been welcomed by the tens of thousands of people displaced by the giant waves now living in the shelters.
The two sides have observed a truce since February 2002, but Norwegian-backed peace talks have been on hold since April 2003. Despite the deadlock in negotiations, both have pledged to respect the ceasefire.
The Sri Lankan government has said that the entire coastline will be newly constructed, but strict rules will be enforced to avoid any disaster in the future.
Thousands of illegal shacks and houses which had sprouted on the palm-covered beaches had contributed to the massive death toll, said Lalith Weeratunga, a member of the Task Force to Rebuild the Nation.
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