Survivors pleaded for help as former United States (US) Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush continued an emotional tour of tsunami-wrecked Asian coasts yesterday with a visit to a mosque in Indonesia?s devastated Aceh.

Bush and Clinton flew to the north of Sumatra island, which bore the brunt of the disaster, from Thailand to meet more survivors of the Dec. 26 earthquake-generated tsunami. The disaster may have killed 300,000 people around the Indian Ocean, prompting President Bush to appoint his father and Clinton to lead US fund-raising for survivors.

Bush and Clinton boarded military helicopters in Banda Aceh and flew over the devastated area before landing near the Lampuuk mosque in Lhok Nga district near the heavily Muslim Aceh province?s capital. The seafront area of Lampuuk had a population of about 6,500 before the tsunami, officials said. There are about 700 left.

The presidents were greeted by survivors near the mosque on a baking hot and windy day. Many in the area are living in tents slung over the ruins of their homes, rice paddies were swamped by the waves and the local well silted over.

Survivors asked the presidents for help in building permanent homes before the windy season starts in three months and blows their temporary homes away.

?I?m very happy you came here. We need food, clean water, everything,? Akhi Sukri, who lost his parents, sister and brother, told them. As the presidents shook hands with survivors outside the mosque, Clinton met a 12-year-old boy dressed in a yellow t-shirt bearing an American flag who was asked what he would most like. ?I would like a school,? Aulia Rahman, who lost father and brother, said through an interpreter.

Only building still standing

The badly damaged mosque with its three domes is the only recognizable building standing amid a sea of destruction. ?I have never seen anything like this in my life, ever,? Bush said after talking to some of the villagers.

The Indian Ocean tsunami ripped through many of Aceh?s heavily populated coastal areas. At least 121,548 people died, more than 400,000 were displaced and nearly 114,000 are listed as missing. Hundreds of bodies are still being recovered around Aceh every day. The two presidents began the Indonesian leg of their tour in Medan in North Sumatra province.

They were met in pouring rain by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, eight weeks after one of the world?s worst humanitarian disasters began to unfold. Indonesian troops armed with automatic weapons were deployed throughout the visit and an armed, plainclothes security team traveled with the casually dressed presidents. Visits by US citizens are rare to Aceh, scarred by three decades of violence between the Indonesian military and separatist rebels.

While in Aceh, where US officials estimate about $40 million in US government aid has been spent, they were also to tour a camp where USAID Indonesia is running a cash-for-work scheme employing thousands of Acehnese in reconstruction work. Mission director William Frej cited estimates that between $6 billion and $8 billion in aid would be needed in Aceh, mainly to rebuild infrastructure like roads, hospitals and schools.

?This is USAID?s single biggest project,? he told Reuters in Medan. ?This is the worst humanitarian disaster in our lifetime.? Bush and Clinton spoke with Yudhoyono about the importance of transparency in aid distribution and had been assured that Indonesia was working hard against corruption.?We don?t anticipate that. We were very reassured by what the president said,? Bush told reporters. ? ...certainly no corruption.?

Clinton, also acting a special UN envoy for tsunami aid, said that total government and private aid commitments stood at about $7 billion, still short of total tsunami losses estimated at $11 billion-$12 billion. Bush and Clinton, who is undertaking his most gruelling trip since quadruple-bypass heart surgery, aim to keep donations flowing and to head off ?donor fatigue.? After leaving Aceh later yesterday, Clinton and Bush are to visit Sri Lanka?s battered south coast and the remote Maldives.

Mark BENDEICH

(Additional reporting by Jerry Norton in Banda Aceh)