KOBE -- The United Nations will take the lead in developing an Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system by drawing on existing systems in the Pacific, U.N. delegates to the World Conference on Disaster Reduction said Thursday.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='right' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20050121a1a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='150'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Participants at an international symposium in Kobe watch an earthquake demonstration on the third day of a United Nations conference on disasters. </B></FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>At a special Indian Ocean session held on the third day of the five-day conference, the delegates said proposals for new technologies and systems will be considered later when more permanent measures can be taken.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Until an Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system is established, we have to use the current technological systems,' said Yoshitaka Murata, chairman of the conference and Japan's disaster management minister.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The system to be used as the model for the Indian Ocean version is being used in the Pacific under the coordination of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission –

. Based in Hawaii, it is used by 26 nations, including the United States and Japan.

The Japanese delegation said it would try to play a leading role through this system.

"In response to requests from the Indian Ocean region, Japan is ready to provide tsunami warning information from observational data through existing networks," Vice Foreign Minister Shuzen Tanigawa said.

UNESCO officials and delegates said they are confident that, based on this system, the Indian Ocean region can have one up and running within a year, if there is international agreement to act quickly.