Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Caribbean-Latin America

EU suspends $90m aid to Honduras

2009-07-21

The European Union has suspended more than $90m (63m euros; £54m) in aid to Honduras in the wake of a coup there. It follows the failure of talks to resolve the country's political crisis.

President Manuel Zelaya was ousted from office by troops on 28 June over his plans to hold a referendum on changing the constitution. The current interim government, led by Roberto Micheletti, has rejected a proposal that Mr Zelaya return as leader of a unity government.

The EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement: "In view of the circumstances, I have taken the difficult decision to suspend all budgetary support payments. I strongly appeal to both parties to refrain from any action or declaration which might further escalate tension, thus making the prospect of a solution more difficult."

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas fighters seek to restore order in Gaza Strip

2009-01-20

C'mon out, boys. It's safe. The Joooos are gone. Look fearsome...
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Uniformed Hamas security teams emerged on Gaza City's streets Monday as leaders of the Islamic militant group vowed to restore order in the shattered Palestinian territory after a three-week pummeling by the Israeli military.
Time to get back to what you're best at, bullying your own people.
Learned that from the Republican Guard, didn't they ...
Hamas proclaimed it won a great victory over the Jewish state -- a view that appeared greatly exaggerated -- and the task of reconstruction faced deep uncertainty because of the fear of renewed fighting and Israel's control over border crossings.
Damn, boys. Even the AP knows your fulla shit, for crissakes...
Cars and pedestrians again clogged streets. Donkey carts hauled produce and firewood past rubble and broken glass. The parliament building and other targets of Israeli attacks were piles of debris, while orange and olive groves on the edge of town were flattened.
Enjoy your victory, boys. Hope you have many more...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon planned to travel to Gaza on Tuesday to inspect damage and visit U.N. facilities hit in the fighting. Ban did not scheduled meetings with officials from Hamas, whose government is not internationally recognized.
He won't be there long. I doubt there's even a three star restaurant left in the whole strip...
Israelis hope Gaza's civilians, who suffered heavily in the fighting that ended Sunday, will blame their militant rulers for provoking the Israeli assault with rocket attacks on southern Israel. Hamas, however, raced to capitalize on anger toward Israel and sought to show it remains unbowed and firmly in command of the Mediterranean coastal strip.

"We are still ready and capable of firing more rockets. We are developing the range of our rockets and the enemy will face more, and our rockets will hit new targets, God willing," said Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas' military wing.

Despite the defiance, Gaza's Iran-backed leadership is likely to focus for now on assisting a traumatized population rather than re-igniting a full-blown conflict that could bring more misery to the area's 1.4 million people.
Where's the evidence for that assertion?
The high visibility of uniformed Hamas police stood in contrast to the furtive movements of Hamas fighters in civilian clothing who confronted or tried to evade the Israeli onslaught that began Dec. 27. Some have suspected the Islamic group was in disarray, but even some Israeli observers have acknowledged that the tightly knit organization remains largely intact.

"We've had orders to be back, make sure everything goes well," said a Hamas police officer who gave only his first name, Mahmoud.
Welcome back, Mahmoud! Did your uniform get all dirty from hiding under your bed?
Israeli officials said they hoped to pull all troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time Barack Obama was inaugurated as U.S. president Tuesday. The withdrawal would avoid subjecting Obama to a vexing Mideast problem on his first day in office, and also give Israeli politicians time to prepare for elections next month.

But Tuesday's deadline would not be met if militants resumed fire, government officials said."We reserve the right to act in Gaza," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israeli television. "If they lift up their heads and shoot, we will return with great force because that is what you do against terror organizations."

Israel hopes its Gaza offensive will serve as a long-term deterrent to further militant rocket attacks on its territory. But the Jewish state ended the war without achieving guarantees that Hamas will halt missile fire or stop smuggling weapons into Gaza. Hamas' demand that Israel open Gaza's blockaded border crossings also was not met.

Israel and Egypt virtually sealed the crossings after Hamas staged a violent takeover of the strip in 2007, a closure that deepened poverty there and trapped its residents. The Israeli army has allowed humanitarian supplies in, and Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog said Israel would cooperate in "helping and easing up the pressure of the people of Gaza."

With aid groups calling for an expanded flow of shipments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor indicated that goods and equipment transported across the border from Israel must be closely scrutinized. "One needs to make sure that nothing that can be used as weapon will reach Hamas and that is clearly in the interest of all parties," he said.

Hamas' interior minister, Said Siam, was among those killed in the war. But a spokesman for the ministry, Ihab Ghussein, said that Hamas remained in firm control of Gaza and that civil servants were surveying the damage. "We are working despite damage done to communication, to our vehicles and the destruction of our compounds. We are on the ground and our people can feel that," Ghussein said.

Palestinian surveyors estimate the war caused at least $1.4 billion worth of destruction to buildings, roads and power lines. On Monday, Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion to the reconstruction project.
They always pledge a billion. Try collecting it.
However, a top European Union official said Europe wouldn't help to rebuild until Gaza was governed by rulers acceptable to the EU. The European bloc considers Hamas a terrorist organization. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner suggested international help in rebuilding Gaza could come if the Fatah Party of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas returned to Gaza. Hamas seized control from Fatah, and reconciliation efforts have failed.

U.N. humanitarian chief John ~~"The Wad"~~ Holmes said told reporters at U.N. headquarters Monday that hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid will be needed immediately to help Gaza's people and billions of dollars will be required to rebuild its shattered buildings and infrastructure.
When the phone don't ring, you'll know it's me, Johnny Wad...
At least 1,259 Palestinians were killed in Israel's assault, more than half of them civilians, according to the United Nations, Gaza health officials and rights groups. Thirteen Israelis died, including 10 soldiers. Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said 48 of the group's fighters died, a figure far below the hundreds of militants that Israel says it killed. Hamas also said 165 policemen were killed. Smaller militant groups reported an additional 104 fighters dead.

On Monday, Gaza City residents picked through the ruins. Electricity cables dangled all over the city. Those who could afford expensive fuel relied on generators, but donkey carts piled with tree branches and split logs plied the streets, providing the city's most impoverished with wood for cooking and heating.

In the northern town of Beit Lahiya, several teenagers stood around eight simple, unmarked graves in a graveyard that they said belonged to a Hamas leader and members of his family killed in an Israeli airstrike."People said that Hamas had given up resistance, but they were the ones who fought the Israelis when they came, so all of Gaza supports Hamas," said 15-year-old Eimad Abul Maeza.
So no whining when it happens again, Eimad.

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Caribbean-Latin America

EU to lift sanctions on Cuba

2008-06-20

BRUSSELS (AP) The European Union on Thursday agreed to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, but imposed tough conditions on the communist island to maintain sanction-free relations, officials said. The U.S., which has maintained a decades-long trade embargo against Cuba, criticized the move, saying there were no significant signs the communist island was easing a dictatorship.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc felt it had to encourage changes in Cuba after Raul Castro took over as the head of the country's government from his ailing brother Fidel. "There will be very clear language also on what the Cubans still have to do ... releasing prisoners, really working on human rights questions," she told reporters at an EU summit. "There will be a sort of review to see whether indeed something will have happened."

"But we'll reward them first and hope they comply later," she added.

The largely symbolic decision takes effect Monday. The diplomatic sanctions, which banned high-level visits to EU nations by Cuban officials, have not been in force since 2005. They were imposed in 2003 following the arrests of dozens of dissidents but suspended two years later.

As part of its action, the EU approved a set of conditions on Cuba in return for sanction-free relations. They include the release of all political prisoners; access for Cubans to the Internet; and a double-track approach for all EU delegations arriving in Cuba, allowing them to meet both opposition figures and members of the Cuban government. Officials said the bloc will evaluate Cuba's progress in a year's time and could take new measures if human rights do not improve.

The chances of that happening are about the same as my winning 'American Idol' ...

The U.S. expressed its opposition before the EU's final decision. State Department Deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the United States would "like to see a real transition occur in Cuba, one that would allow for the release of political prisoners, for democratic opening, and ultimately for free and fair elections in which the Cuban people could choose their own leadership."

Casey said the U.S. has recently seen "some very minor cosmetic changes" in Cuba. "We certainly don't see any kind of fundamental break with the Castro dictatorship that would give us reason to believe that now would be the time to lift sanctions or otherwise fundamentally alter our policies," he said. Asked if lifting EU sanctions would weaken U.S. sanctions, Casey said simply, "We'll see," but offered no assessment.

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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Global Warming story without the term Global Warming

2008-03-08

This article mentions "Climate Change" seven times but not one use of the term "Global Warming". I have told everyone I know, the term will disappear. Climate change is an easier sell when your up to your armpits in snow in March.

Always easier to sell something when you don't have to explain what it is you're selling.

The risks of climate change have turned from a threat to reality impacting the conflict in Darfur, migration from flood-prone Bangladesh and hopes for stability in the Middle East, according to a new EU report. From Africa to Asia, and from pole to pole, climate change has become "a threat multiplier which exacerbates existing trends, tensions and instability," warns the seven-page report on "Climate change and international security", to be presented to a European summit in Brussels on March 13-14.

Among the listed threats are "reduction of arable land, widespread shortage of water, diminishing food and fish stocks, increased flooding and prolonged droughts."

These problems, according to the report drawn up by the offices of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, "are already happening in many parts of the world".

Even a temperature rise of two degrees Celsius by 2050 "will pose serious security risks". Change beyond that level "will lead to unprecedented security scenarios, as it is likely to trigger a number of tipping points that could lead to further, accelerated, irreversible and largely unpredictable climate changes," the report warns. "The core challenge is that climate change threatens to overburden states and regions which are already fragile and conflict prone," it adds, echoing a warning from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in January.

Receding coastlines and the submerging of large areas, including whole island states, means that "more disputes over land and maritime borders and other territorial rights are likely," the report stresses.

Africa is adjudged to be particularly vulnerable. "Already today climate change is having a major impact on the conflict in and around Darfur," it states. Throughout the continent reduced rainfall and increasing temperatures are taking their toll, bringing poor harvests. Given these factors, migration both within Africa and towards Europe "is likely to intensify".

But that's been going on in Africa for thousands of years. Why is this year any different?

The UN predicts there will be millions of "environmental migrants" by 2020 which may in turn "increase conflicts in transit and destination areas," says the report. In the Middle East, "existing tensions over access to water are almost certain to intensify in this region leading to further political instability with detrimental implications for Europe's energy security and other interests". The security and environmental risks are joined and exacerbated by the economic risks, the report says.

It cited estimates that "a business as usual scenario" in dealing with climate change could cost the world economy up to 20 percent of GDP per year, with "the east coasts of China and India as well as the Caribbean region and Central America would be particurly effected."

The report's authors have no miracle cure to put forward. Among its proposals is to build up early warning systems for disasters and intensify research and analysis. The report stresses the importance of multilateral leadership notably among the major G8 nations and UN bodies.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Global outrage over Ghanem assassination

2007-09-21

World leaders announced their outrage at the slaying of an anti-Syrian Lebanese lawmaker in Beirut, and pointedly tied the attack to meddling by the Assad regime in Damascus. Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, and the United Nations Security Council also sharply denounced the car bombing that killed Mr Antoine Ghanem, while plunging deeply divided Lebanon into further chaos days ahead of crucial elections. The European Union also condemned the killing as a 'contemptible act', but urged the Lebanese government to go ahead with a hotly contested Sept 25 presidential contest.

At the White House, U.S. President George W Bush made the following statement:

"I strongly condemn today's horrific assassination of Lebanese Member of Parliament Antoine Ghanem. I extend my personal condolences to his family and the families of the innocent persons who were murdered alongside him in Beirut.

Since October 2004, there has been a tragic pattern of political assassinations and attempted assassinations designed to silence those Lebanese who courageously defend their vision of an independent and democratic Lebanon. Today's cowardly attack comes days before the Lebanese Parliament is scheduled to convene to elect a new president. The United States opposes any attempts to intimidate the Lebanese people as they seek to exercise their democratic right to select a president without foreign interference. We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lebanese people, as they resist attempts by the Syrian and Iranian regimes and their allies to destabilize Lebanon and undermine its sovereignty.

I call on the international community to support the Government of Lebanon in its efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of these violent attacks, and to stand with the citizens of Lebanon who continue to struggle to protect their freedom."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned what it saw as a 'ruthless attempt to destabilise Lebanon' before critical Sept 25 elections to pick a successor to Syria-backed President Emile Lahoud.

"A targeted attack"
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France which, with the United States, has led international efforts to curb Syrian influence in Lebanon, expressed personal 'sadness and anger' at what he described as a 'targeted attack'.

'All light must be shed on the circumstances of this heinous crime and its perpetrators must be brought to justice,' said Mr Sarkozy, who, like Washington, linked it to other high-profile assassinations of anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders.

Mr Ghanem, a member of the Phalange party of former president Amin Gemayel, was the eighth member of the ruling anti-Syrian majority to be assassinated since the 2005 murder of former billionaire prime minister Rafik Hariri. Mr Ghanem's death has reduced the anti-Syrian majority in Parliament to 68 members out of the now 127-member house, amid a near-complete deadlock between the Western-backed ruling majority and the pro-Damascus opposition.

The European Union also condemned the killing as a 'contemptible act', but urged the Lebanese government to go ahead with its presidential election. 'These attacks should by no means obstruct the process of electing the new president and the process of reform that lies ahead of Lebanon,' EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in a statement.

In Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo d'Alema denounced what he called a 'terrorist attack' and a 'barbaric act' aimed at 'destabilising Lebanese political life at a particularly delicate time'.

After speaking by telephone to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Mr d'Alema said in a statement that he hoped the attack would 'reinforce everyone's will to isolate extremists and encourage political players to find a national consensus through a peaceful and democratic dialogue'.

Syria also condemned the attack, which left five others dead and dozens wounded in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut, as a 'criminal act' aimed at undermining Lebanese-Syrian relations.

'The organizers and perpetrators must be found and punished,' said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin, who also called on Lebanese leaders 'to use restraint and pursue dialogue'.

Greece called Lebanon a 'friend' and said it backed Beirut's democratic institutions and national sovereignty, while condemning the attack as a 'terrorist' act.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Arab League urges immediate PA truce

2007-06-15

The head of the Arab league on Thursday warned of a "disastrous outcome" if the bloody infighting between Hamas and Fatah continues, and urged an immediate cease-fire.

"I call for a cease fire immediately," Amr Moussa said in Cairo.

"I call for a cease fire immediately," Amr Moussa said in Cairo after an urgent meeting with Jibril al-Rajoub, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's senior security adviser. Moussa urged the Palestinian factions embroiled in what looks increasingly like a civil war in the Gaza Strip to "cooperate more" with an Egyptian team of mediators.

"Now, play nice, y'all!"

At least 15 Palestinians were killed on Thursday as Hamas overran one of Fatah's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Moussa also said that the Arab states were "extremely displeased" at the Palestinian clashes, which he described as "unacceptable."

Not displeased enough to cut off the flow of money and arms and let the Paleos go to hell, of course.

The Arab League was preparing for holding an urgent Arab foreign ministers' meeting on Friday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the Palestinian territories, Moussa said. Al-Rajoub said what was needed now was a "constructive, unified Arab stance to rescue the Palestinians from this destruction."

Maybe they need a unity government, huh? That always works well.

He warned that if the fighting weren't halted, it would make all the Palestinians "losers."

As opposed to what they are now...

Earlier Thursday, the European Commission suspended its humanitarian aid projects in the Gaza Strip, citing the escalating sectarian violence. "I fervently hope that the projects can resume very soon," said EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel.

"There's nothing we love more than dumping money, aid, and good intentions on these imcompetent screwups."

EU humanitarian operations in both Gaza and the West Bank totaled 84 million euros ($110 million) last year. So far this year, it has earmarked 60 million euros ($80 million). Some 80 people, most of them armed, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war.

If they'd only been given more euros that number could have been twice as high.

"This is a time when people desperately need protection and support. The warring parties must respect the principles of international humanitarian law," said Michel.

They do, to about the same extent they respect anything else.

Despite the escalating violence, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called on the Palestinians to stick with a national unity government.

... because it's been working so spectacularly well....

"Now is not the time to give up on national unity, both in the government and in the security sector," she said. "I call on both Hamas and Fatah to invest all their energy in this coalition. "

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA finance minister: We need 1b. euros in aid

2007-04-12

The new Palestinian Authority government will need 1 billion euros in international aid this year to "get back on our feet," Palestinian Authority Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday. "We are looking for donor support to bridge the gap of 1 billion euros for 2007," Fayyad said after meeting with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "This is assistance we need to get back on our feet."

Link

Africa North

Egypt, EU launch $730 million aid for reform plan

2007-03-07

BRUSSELS - The European Union and Egypt launched an ambitious plan on Tuesday under which the EU will provide aid of 558 million euros ($732 million) to encourage political, economic and social reform in Egypt. The EU cash, provided under Europes Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan for promoting reforms in countries close to the blocs borders, covers the period from 2007-2010.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the plan was a catalyst for change enabling the two sides to significantly deepen our relationship, but Egypt stressed it would carry out the reforms it wanted at its own pace.

And boy howdy, the $2 billion a year we send the Egyptians sure has catalyzed reform, hasn't it?

The Europeans are encouraging such commitment on our part but it is an Egyptian decision, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news briefing after talks with EU officials. Whether it is the suggested amendents to the constitution, or changes in the body politic of the Egyptian laws and legal system and the modernisation of the judiciary...these are issues related to Egypt and Egypt will do it according to its own pace and according to whatever results Egypt desires, he said.

"Took thousands of years to build the pyramids, right? And you want us to reform in less time thann that? What sense does that make, riddle me that?" he added.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Egypt an important strategic partner for the 27-state European Union and termed it an ambitious and good action plan. Ferrero-Waldner said the plan would speed up change in Egypt in areas ranging from education to trade, energy, health and the environment.

All the things that a sovereign nation is supposed to do for itself but that Egypt somehow hasn't managed to do.

It took 18 months of negotiations before the two sides were able to put the plan into action, and required EU and Egyptian officials to patch up disagreements over human rights and over declaring the Middle East a nuclear weapon-free zone.

So the Y'urp-peons can't even give away $700 million quickly?

Egypts human rights record has deteriorated since 2005 elections, which brought a temporary relaxation of state controls. In many prominent cases, Egyptian courts have jailed people for the peaceful expression of their opinions.

Which, given the new French law that bans citizens from taking crime pictures, means the EU and the Egyptians are in surprising agreement on human rights.

As a compromise, the two sides agreed to deal with political matters, democracy and human rights in one of eight subcommittees set up under the plan.

And you know how much the Y'urp-peons love their committees!

The two sides had also disagreed on an Egyptian proposal to declare the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons. A senior European diplomat said last year the Europeans did not want any reference to the Egyptian proposal in the agreement for fear of confrontation with Israel, which is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. The text of the agreement called for promotion of the aim of pursuing a mutually and effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction and the delivery systems.

The EU aid package includes 58 million euros in interest rate subsidies, which could help Egypt get loans worth between 250 million and 300 million euros, the European Commission said.

From Y'urp-peon banks, of course, thus spreading their influence further. Sure hope the banks don't end up holding the bag on the next revolution.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

EU will resume aid to Palestinians after unity government formation

2007-02-13

The European Union will resume aid to the Palestinian government when a government of national unity is in place there, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday. When it becomes possible to re-engage with a national unity government, and we are not there yet, we could gradually resume support to Palestinian Authority ministries and agencies, Ferrero-Waldner said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The European Commission will closely study the political agreement between the Fatah movement Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and rival Palestinian faction Hamas, which has been running the Palestinian government and which the EU has not been dealing with, she added.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

EU: Palestinian unity gov't must recognize Israel

2006-11-14

The European Union will insist that any new Palestinian unity government respects international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and commit to new peace talks, a top EU official said Monday. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner welcomed reports of an agreement between Hamas and Fatah on naming a US-educated professor to head a new unity government. At talks in Brussels, EU foreign ministers were to urge Hamas and Fatah to seek an "early engagement" of peace talks with Israel.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

EU begins paying financial aid directly to 625,000 Palestinians

2006-09-02

The European Union said Friday it has begun paying "social allowances" to 625,000 Palestinians left unpaid and poor because of the financial crisis besetting the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

The funds made through a program overseen by the World Bank bypass the Palestinian government and benefit "those who have suffered a significant loss of income" when much foreign aid and some of the Palestinians' own revenues dried up after Hamas came to power earlier this year.

Besides direct cash payments of about 270 (US$347) to each person, EU money will finance Palestinian health services and utilities, notably fuel to run generators.

Among the 625,000 Palestinians now receiving direct financial support are 11,500 health workers who are no longer receiving their salaries, said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The EU is funneling some 600,000 (US$771,000) a month through the program, launched in July for a three-month period. Ferrero-Waldner said she hoped a review this month would result in its continuation.

In all, the EU has put aside 105 million (US$135 million) to be disbursed through the aid plan. The 25 EU nations are contributing another 60 million (US$77 million).

"We have kept our promise to help relieve the suffering of the Palestinian people during the current crisis," she told reporters before the start of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers who considered ways to revive the Middle East peace process after the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Ferrero-Waldner said that, to date, the EU special funding program has paid for, among other things, medical supplies to 413 primary health care centers and 22 hospitals, and the purchase of 1.5 million liters of fuel to run air conditioning and generators at hospitals and water facilities, after the Gaza power plant was knocked out by Israel in July.

Most U.S. and EU foreign aid to the Palestinian government dried up this year because Hamas is seen as a terrorist organization on both sides of the Atlantic. Additionally, Israel has been withholding some US$50 million (US$64 million) a month in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian government.

Also Friday, the EU pledged 50 million (US$64 million) in humanitarian aid to Palestinians at a donors conference in Sweden. U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said several other "impressive new pledges" were made at the meeting that focused on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

"I believe today we will take a big step forward" toward raising more than US$200 million (156 million) for a U.N. emergency appeal to help Palestinians, he said in Stockholm.
And the skim game will proceed apace. Only Arafat was better at it than the EU "leaders" and the UN Vultures.

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Europe

EU 'needs disaster-reaction corps'

2006-05-09

THE European Union should create a special reaction corps to deal with disasters such as the Asian tsunami of 2004, when its crisis-management abilities were found lacking, an official report urged today.
The report also called on the bloc to provide better help to its citizens caught up in such disasters, such as pooling national consular services vital to identifying and repatriating victims.

"I hope it won't take another disaster or tsunami to get this implemented. It all depends on the political will," said former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who was commissioned by the EU to produce the report.

Mr Barnier said the corps should be drawn from existing crisis management personnel made available by member states. He did not say how large it should be, but in the past has spoken of a corps totalling 5000 experts, including firefighters, technicians and medics.

The timetable set out by Mr Barnier proposed the launch of the corps by 2010, slower than sought by some EU officials. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said last year it would be good to have the unit set up by next year.

Within weeks of the December 26, 2004 tsunami, which claimed over 200,000 lives, the EU and its member states pumped billions of euros of aid into the region, not counting donations from private citizens and debt-easing pacts with affected countries.

But while a US aircraft carrier in the region rushed in to start distributing aid, the EU was seen as slow to offer help on the ground in the critical days after the wave.

EU officials acknowledged problems in coordinating national offers of aid, while some EU countries did not have the consular presence necessary to help their own citizens.

Mr Barnier's report also suggested the bloc create mobile teams of consular experts to be flown in to help in crises and joint EU funding to pay for the evacuation of victims.

The proposal is the latest effort by the EU to plough ahead with integration despite the uncertain future of the EU constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters last year.

That charter included a clause obliging EU states to come to each others' aid in natural disasters and would have created the new post of EU foreign minister intended to make member states work more closely together internationally.

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