U.S. Carrier Leaving Tsunami Zone

[David]

AP


The USS Abraham Lincoln that led a massive helicopter operation to deliver life-giving aid to cut-off villages in the early days of the emergency began steaming away from the disaster zone.

In other developments:


A health official said Thursday that precautions at the outset of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia prevented major outbreaks of infectious diseases.


Details emerged in India of nine survivors who spent 38 days in the jungle before they were rescued.


A Sri Lanka judge Thursday set a date for DNA testing next week for a couple fighting to claim the tsunami survivor known as "Baby 81."


Turkish soccer stars faced off against foreign players from Turkish clubs in a charity benefit game for the victims of the Asian tsunami, while the MTV Asia Aid event was set for Thailand to raise money for tsunami relief work. It will be hosted by R&B star Alicia Keys and will bring together Western musicians, actors from India's Bollywood film industry, and even a cricket-playing legend from Sri Lanka.

The departure of the USS Abraham Lincoln from Indonesian waters marks a major drawdown of the U.S. military aid effort that began six days after the Dec. 26 tsunami and was the biggest U.S. military operation in Southeast Asia since the Vietnam War.

Helicopters from the ship have flown hundreds of missions delivering food, water and other aid to remote villages along the devastated western coast of Sumatra island. U.S. officials said last month the emergency phase of the relief effort was ending and that the military would gradually withdraw.

About 5,000 U.S. forces will remain in Indonesia after the Lincoln's departure.

Meanwhile, the top World Health Organization health crisis official said efforts to combat disease outbreaks in Sumatra had exceeded his expectations, after the U.N. body had warned of possible mosquito-and waterborne epidemics in the region, which is in the grip of the rainy season.

Although some cases had been reported, "we have managed to prevent any major disease outbreak from affecting the tsunami-affected populations," David Nabarro told reporters.

"When this started ? the relief effort ? I did not believe that we would succeed in avoiding outbreaks," he said. But he warned that, "We must remain vigilant."

The death toll from the disaster continued to rise. Indonesian workers cleaning up debris of the Dec. 26 tsunami found 897 more bodies, raising the confirmed death toll in that country to 111,171, the government said Thursday.

The number of missing remains 127,749, said the government's National Disaster Relief Coordinating Board. Most of the missing are feared dead but can't be legally declared such for one year.

The overall death toll ranges from 158,868 to 178,115. The number of missing ranges from 26,404 to 142,107 ? with most presumed dead.

On India's remote Campbell Bay island, police searching for bodies found nine tsunami survivors deep in a jungle. They had spent 38 days wandering across villages flattened by the killer waves, eating coconuts and hunting boars to survive and making fires by rubbing sticks together.

The nine people belong to the Nicobarese tribe and include five men, two women and two teenage girls, Inspector Shaukat Hussain told The Associated Press by telephone from Campbell Bay, the only town in Great Nicobar, India's southernmost island.

"They were sitting in the forest when we saw them, and they just ran to us, without saying anything," said Hussain. "They seemed happy, yes, but there was no hugging and tears and shouting in joy and all that."

Two of the survivors were severely dehydrated and were hospitalized. The other seven were sent to a relief camp.

In a drama drawing international attention, the tsunami survivor known as "Baby 81" and the Sri Lankan couple fighting a court battle to claim him were ordered by a judge to undergo DNA testing next Wednesday, and an official said results could be known within eight hours.

The judge also said he would consider ruling on the case much earlier than the April 20 date he previously set, raising hopes of a quick resolution to the couple's agonizing custody battle.

Judge M.P. Mohaideen on Wednesday ordered DNA tests to determine whether Jenita Jeyarajah and her husband, Murugupillai, are the parents of the infant, who was found on a beach amid bodies and debris nine hours after the tsunami struck.

Mohaideen said Wednesday that the child would have to remain in a hospital's care until he reconvenes to hear test results April 20. The couple were dismayed about waiting so long, and later barged into the hospital with supporters to claim the baby.

The Jeyarajahs and two supporters were arrested after being accused of roughing up nurses. They reappeared Thursday before Mohaideen, who let them off with a warning.

The tests will be carried out at a laboratory in the capital, Colombo. The baby would also be taken to the city ? an eight hour drive from Kalmunai ? for the tests.

[SparrowHawk62]

God Speed Lincoln Task force! Way past time to get the hell out of dodge.

[Boats]

The go everywhere and do everything specialty - the US Navy does it all and I'm proud of them for the service they gave to those in need.. Good job and smooth sailing.