MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World leaders step up tsunami aid pledges.

World leaders began preparing for Thursday's tsunami relief summit in Jakarta with a flurry of new aid announcements and a strengthening debate on how to alleviate the problems of afflicted countries.

Colin Powell, the outgoing US secretary of state, is expected to attend the meeting in the Indonesian capital alongside Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general, Wen Jiabao, Chinese prime minister, John Howard, Australian prime minister; and Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese premier.

The idea of an official moratorium on debt payments by countries affected by the tsunami gathered momentum before a meeting next week of the Paris Club of rich creditor governments. That meeting will discuss a proposal made last week by Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, for a freeze on debt repayments by affected countries.

Total payments from those governments to the Paris Club this year could total $6bn, with Indonesia accounting for some $4bn. France, Italy, Canada, Japan and the UK have declared public support for such a move and the Canadian government has announced a unilateral debt-repayment moratorium.

Mr Howard on Wednesday pledged A$1bn ($765m, ?577m, £400m) to Indonesian reconstruction efforts over a period of five years, whilst Mr Schröder pledged general aid worth ?500m - a considerable increase on the ?20m announced last week.

Tony Blair, UK prime minister, also told the BBC on Wednesday that Britain's contribution to aid would be increased following the Jakarta conference: "My estimate is that we will end up needing to put in from government probably several hundred million pounds, so we will far and away more than match the generosity of the British people, though that has been remarkable," Mr Blair said. The British public has so far donated about £77m.

Gordon Brown, the UK finance minister, on Tuesday proposed that some affected countries could receive outright relief on debts as well as a freeze on repayment. But economists and international finance officials said this might affect governments' credit ratings in private capital markets.

Nobutaka Machimura, Japan's foreign minister, said on Wednesday his country was willing to grant a debt moratorium and was also prepared to give more aid once the needs for rebuilding become clearer.

However, Mr Howard, whose country is also a member of the Paris Club, expressed concern that forgiving debt or freezing repayments would not help those most in need.

"There is no guarantee that if you do it, what is forgiven or what is the subject of a moratorium will end up going in aid," he said.

"The debts are not normally owed by the people who need the assistance. It is usually owed by other organisations. And you have no guarantee that if you provide a debt moratorium, debt forgiveness, that that money ends up where it should."

Most European Union countries - including their stock exchanges - observed a three-minute silence on Wednesday in remembrance of the tsunami victims.