Pope John Paul II appealed for swift international aid to help thousands of victims from Sunday's massive tidal waves that swamped coastal areas across southern Asia

Pope John Paul II appealed for swift international aid to help thousands of victims from Sunday's massive tidal waves that swamped coastal areas across southern Asia - triggered by the world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years. During his customary Sunday noon appearance from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, John Paul prayed for victims of the 8.-magnitude quake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the resulting tidal waves. ``The Christmas holiday has been saddened by the news that comes from Southeast Asia about the powerful earthquake which struck Indonesia, with consequences in other countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives.'' ``We hope that the international community acts to bring relief to the stricken populations,'' the pontiff said. In Brussels, European Union Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Luis Michel said it was important to deliver aid ``in those vital hours and days immediately after the disaster.'' The 25-nation EU will deliver $4 million in emergency aid as a start. ``For all the huge advances in the control of our lives through science and technology, an earthquake on this scale is truly humbling as well as profoundly tragic,'' said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. British consular officials were called from vacation and aid efforts were being organized. ``We are doing everything we can to assist, but the disruption to communication in the worst affected areas is inevitably making it difficult,'' Straw said. In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac sent a letter expressing his sympathy and the solidarity of France to the president of Sri Lanka, where some hundreds were killed and a million others displaced by waves that slammed coastlines. In Austria, relief officials and charities such as Caritas and Volkshilfe issued a broad and urgent appeal for cash donations.