Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said here on Wednesday his government was set to announce details of an aid package for war-torn Georgia within 24 hours.
He told reporters that if the proposed cease-fire between Russia and Georgia could work, and if they had humanitarian access, "Australia as always will be in there through the appropriate international agencies, including the ... Red Cross, to provide practical humanitarian help."
One of the preconditions that France, as current president of the European Union, had imposed was to ensure humanitarian access, Rudd said.
"Australians expect our government always to be out there with a helping hand when people are in need, and there are something like 100,000 displaced persons, I'm advised, in this particular war zone in Georgia."
But while Canberra will provide humanitarian assistance, it has refused to provide military resources to the country.
The United Nations estimates that 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, and up to 2,000 people are believed to have been killed in Georgia.
Australian foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio earlier in the day that he hoped to be able to detail the humanitarian aid package within the next 24 hours.
"Australia, of course, stands ready to contemplate humanitarian assistance. There have been a large number of civilians who have been killed or injured or displaced," he said.
Source:Xinhua
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