Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga raised the need for a tsunami early-warning system for the Indian Ocean basin during a telephone call Wednesday with U.S. President George W. Bush. "I think that part of the long-term strategy in how to deal with a natural disaster is to make sure we - the world - have a proper tsunami warning system," Bush said. "As a matter of fact, the president of Sri Lanka also mentioned that to me." He spoke to reporters outside his private ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is spending the year-end holidays. Many countries on the Pacific Ocean have well-established tsunami warning systems, because that region more commonly suffers the undersea earthquakes that set off tidal waves. Such events are less frequent on the Indian Ocean, where a quake early Sunday in the mouth of the Bay of Bengal set off huge haves that killed more than 80,000 people. --MORE 2333 Local Time 2033 GMT
