A Month later

Mournful silences for the dead were observed on Wednesday as people around the Indian Ocean recalled the day one month ago when tsunami waves crashed ashore, taking away families, friends and homes.

Schools reopened across Aceh, the Indonesian province where most of the 280,000 presumed dead from the disaster lived. A team of top ministers also headed to Finland for talks with Aceh separatist rebels aimed at resolving a long-running conflict .

In Sri Lanka, where more than 30,000 people were killed, a minute of silence was held across the island while TV and radio stations went off air at 9:36 am, the exact moment the waters struck. But the government ruled out foreign governments giving direct aid to the LTTE and insisted that all external help must go through Colombo.