British Gurkha soldiers to help tsunami victims

Britain has offered to send a company of 120 Gurkhas serving in the British Army to assist with the tsunami relief effort in Indonesia, BBC reported Wednesday.

An on-line version of the BBC quoted officials at the 10 Downing Street—office of the British Prime Minister—as saying that the deployment would involve troops from the 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, based in Brunei and two helicopters.

"This is in addition to the ships and aircraft we have already committed to the relief operation in the Indian Ocean," a government’s spokesman said.

Discussions are underway with Indonesia on the exact timing and location of the deployment, but the government said the offer was aimed at the Aceh province, the report said.

Downing Street said a similar offer might be made to the Sri Lankan government. However a spokesman pointed out that there were particular logistical difficulties in Indonesia, which the Gurkhas might be able to help with.

The spokesman said: "Following this morning's daily coordination meeting on the post-tsunami relief effort, the government has formally offered the Indonesian government the assistance of a company of British Army Gurkhas

Indonesia is by far the country worst affected by the tsunami, with 94,000 of the 140,000 confirmed deaths so far.

British International Development Minister, Gareth Thomas, said, "We have offered the Gurkhas to help in the process if scaling up the relief effort, particularly in Aceh which is undoubtedly the hardest hit area in the Indian Ocean at the moment."

"We've also had RAF aircraft flying in equipment which the UN desperately need in order to set up a truly effective relief operation on the ground in Aceh province as well."

The British offer has come as the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to arrive in Indonesia for a special summit meeting on the disaster. Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, senior US officials and other world leaders are also scheduled to take part in the summit. nepalnews.com by Jan 05 05 Sphere: Related Content