UN to coordinate Asia's tsunami warning centers

The compromise dealt a blow to Thailand, host of the two-day tsunami ministerial meeting on the resort island of Phuket which was itself hit by the Dec. 26 killer waves that devastated Indian Ocean coastal regions. It had wanted to run the center itself.

Bangkok's proposal to set up a regional tsunami trust fund, to which it pledged an initial $10 million contribution, was not welcome at the conference, where cabinet ministers of only six countries took part.

"It will be premature to ask them to make a financial commitment after they received the proposal yesterday," Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters when asked how delegates had responded to the proposed fund.

"All of these arrangements should be under the umbrella of the United Nations' specialized agencies that should be able to provide expertise and technological input into the arrangement."

Sri Lankan Minister of Enviro-nment and Natural Resources A.H.M.Fowzie told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference that Bangkok would be "one of the focal points" under the UN

As with a similar meeting in Kobe, Japan, a week ago, where numerous tsunami warning proposals were put before panels of politicians, national egos appear to be getting in the way of international cooperation.

Thailand wanted the system to be built on the existing structure of the UN-backed Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), which has around 30 member countries in Asia and is located in Bangkok.

India and Indonesia also wanted to host the regional center.

The compromise came after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a written statement to the conference urging all nations to coordinate their regional efforts.

"Our challenge now is to ensure that all the elements of effective early warning systems are integrated, cohesive, and cover not only tsunamis but also other hazards such as cyclones and floods," Annan said.