OTTAWA, Dec 31 (AFP) - Canada on Friday signed up for the US-led tsunami aid coalition also involving Australia, India and Japan, as Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke by telephone with President George W. Bush.
The two leaders agreed that it was vital to coordinate aid for areas left desolate by the Asian catastrophe, to ensure that all areas of need were covered, Martin's spokesman, Mark Roy, told AFP.
Martin's 20-minute conversation with Bush, vacationing at his Texas ranch, came a day after Canada put in place a unilateral debt moratorium for nations hit by the disaster.
Canada billed the move as a signal to its partners in the Paris Club of creditor nations, ahead of its January 12 meeting in the French capital.
Ottawa's contribution to disaster relief efforts reached 44 million US dollars on Thursday after the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia set aside a combined 10.8 million US dollars.
The federal government also announced that it would match money donated through certain non-governmental organisations by Canadians dollar for dollar until January 11.
12/31/2004 18:32 GMT - AFP