Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been urged to press for a meaningful ceasefire in the 28-year Aceh civil war when he attends a special Jakarta summit on aid for tsunami victims tomorrow.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said the premier should do so to "ensure effective global humanitarian efforts" in the Indonesian province hit hardest by the Asian tsunami.

To date, there are about 94,000 dead with the majority recorded in Aceh. The number is expected to rise as search operations intensify.

"With fears that the death toll in Aceh can grow exponentially with thousands more dead in the tsunami aftermath, Malaysia as well as all other countries joining in the humanitarian efforts should make their concerns for a meaningful ceasefire heard loud and clear by Indonesian authorities," Lim said in a statement.

"There had been hope for a peaceful solution to the Aceh civil war, which has claimed at least 13,000 lives, but now (the hope) is completely eclipsed by the catastrophe ".

In Aceh, where an armed-conflict between independence-seekers and military forces has reigned for almost three decades, its northern coast line has been completely obliterated by the largest earthquake in 40 years and by the tsunami that followed.

The province had also been closed to the international media, NGOs and humanitarian organisations before the quake - measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale - occurred on Dec 26.

Uglier sights

Lim also highlighted the rampant crimes which have been occurring amidst the chaos in tsunami-hit countries.

"There have been reports that Indonesian Chinese in Aceh have become the targets of robberies and suffered a second round of victimisation after the disaster (by) being bullied and (having) their property looted," the veteran politician said.

He urged condemnation "in the strongest possible terms" of persecution to Aceh's Indonesian Chinese especially as the tsunami had completely transcended race, religion, class, nationality, gender and age.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was also told to be sensitive and to put a stop to any racial discrimination especially "in light of the 1998 anti-Indonesian Chinese programmes which has been a blot in Indonesia's history".

"While the Asian tsunami catastrophe has seen worldwide humanitarianism outpouring at its best, it has also shown the ugly face of humanity".

Lim noted that there have been reports of thieves, rapists, kidnappers and hoaxers preying on tsunami survivors, be it in Asian refugee camps, hospitals or towards victims' families abroad.

Learn right lessons

In a separate statement, Lim also urged the Malaysian government to establish a public inquiry into the lack of warning alerts and systems which could have saved numerous lives of those who perished in the tsunami tragedy.

"The sacking of the Thai chief meteorologist is a reminder of the need for a public inquiry in Malaysia to overcome our denial syndrome and to learn all the right lessons from the tsunami disaster," said the opposition DAP stalwart.

Yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sacked his chief meteorologist Suparerk Thantiratanawong and initiated an investigation into the department's failure in issuing a warning prior to the disaster which could have saved lots of lives.

The death toll in Thailand stands at close to 5,000 with 8,000 still missing. Half of the number of casualties were foreigners.

"I am not suggesting that we fire the Malaysian Meteorological Services (MMS) director-general or the MMS Seismology director.

"However, the government should not shirk from its unpleasant duty to conduct a soul searching inquiry into the horrendous failure of the national disaster warning system... the (national) radio and television failing to give Malaysians real-time information," Lim said.

According to the opposition leader, Malaysians had to initially depend on international news organisations, such as CNN and BBC to find out immediate details of the tsunami crashing into the country's states of Penang, Kedah and Perak.

Lim also highlighted the strong need for the inquiry as question marks have arisen as to why no government warnings were issued "although it had some four hours of lead-time before the killer waves, unleashed by Sumatra's mega-earthquake, hit the Malaysian coasts".