COPENHAGEN, Jan 11 (AFP) - The Danish parliament observed two minutes of silence in memory of the nearly 160,000 people who perished in last month's Asian tsunami disaster as the representative body on Tuesday assembled for the first time in the new year.
Members of parliament and government ministers, most of whom were clad in black, listened solemnly as parliament speaker Christian Mejdahl spoke of "this natural catastrophe of dimensions never seen before", and called for "maintaining aid, also in the long term, to the devastated regions".
"We have seen a huge will across borders, political systems and religions to help those who have suffered (in the tsunamis)," he said.
Denmark's government has pledged 420 million kroner (74.2 million dollars, 56.4 million euros) in aid to the countries affected by the disaster, while private donations from the Scandinavian country on Tuesday reached 200 million kroner (35.3 million dollars, 26.8 million euros).
According to the latest figures, seven Danes caught in the tsunamis have been confirmed dead, while 55 people remain missing.
"It will take time, months, before we will be able to identify the victims," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters earlier on Tuesday.
"The government has decided to organize a memorial in Thailand as soon as we know the identity of the Danish victims, in accordance with their loved ones," he added.
Members of parliament and government ministers, most of whom were clad in black, listened solemnly as parliament speaker Christian Mejdahl spoke of "this natural catastrophe of dimensions never seen before", and called for "maintaining aid, also in the long term, to the devastated regions".
"We have seen a huge will across borders, political systems and religions to help those who have suffered (in the tsunamis)," he said.
Denmark's government has pledged 420 million kroner (74.2 million dollars, 56.4 million euros) in aid to the countries affected by the disaster, while private donations from the Scandinavian country on Tuesday reached 200 million kroner (35.3 million dollars, 26.8 million euros).
According to the latest figures, seven Danes caught in the tsunamis have been confirmed dead, while 55 people remain missing.
"It will take time, months, before we will be able to identify the victims," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters earlier on Tuesday.
"The government has decided to organize a memorial in Thailand as soon as we know the identity of the Danish victims, in accordance with their loved ones," he added.