United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan commended former US President Bill Clinton on Wednesday for his role guiding the international response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people and devastated coastal communities across a dozen Southeast Asian nations, with Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives suffering the greatest losses.
Annan delivered his remarks at a meeting of the Consortium for Tsunami Recovery, held at UNICEF headquarters and chaired by Clinton. The consortium brings together the UN, international financial institutions, the Red Cross movement, and various non-governmental organizations working on rebuilding efforts.
Clinton, who has served as the UN's special envoy for tsunami recovery since accepting the position the previous year, used the meeting to assess progress over the past 12 months. He is expected to leave the role next month.
The tsunami was triggered by a powerful undersea earthquake. Indonesia's Aceh province was among the hardest-hit areas, with entire villages destroyed by the disaster.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.