UK stops for European three-minute silence

Wednesday, 5 January 2005 12:00 AM

A three-minute silence has been observed across Europe to remember the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

In the UK the silence will began at 12:00 GMT.

Buckingham Palace and government buildings flew flags at half-mast. Mr Blair was not "on show" for the silence, but observed the occasion privately within Downing Street.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell had asked company bosses to "do all they can" to allow workers to pay their respects at noon.

All of the main broadcast channels observed the silence, with some playing silent images of the disaster.

Over 150,000 people are believed to have died, though the true death toll is likely to never be known.

The EU last held a three-minute silence in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in America in 2001. In the UK, a two-minute silence is observed on Remembrance Day services to honour Britain's war dead every November.

It has also been confirmed today that Britain has offered to send 120 Gurkhas to Indonesia to boost the relief effort. At least 94,000 fatalities have been reported in Indonesia, mostly in the northern province of Aceh, on the island of Sumatra.

Downing Street announced that troops from the Second Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, based in nearby Brunei, could be deployed to tsunami-affected areas.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the south-east Asia emergency committee, chaired by Tony Blair.

A final decision on where the troops will be stationed and their overall brief will be taken after discussions with the authorities in Jakarta, said a Downing Street spokesman.

"This is in addition to the ships and aircraft we have already committed to the relief operation in the Indian Ocean," the spokesman added.

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