Bush, who hopes such help will polish Washington's image in the Muslim world, said in a statement released by the White House that he would seek to boost an earlier commitment of 350 million dollars.

"I will seek 950 million (dollars) as part of the supplemental appropriations request to (Congress to) support the areas recovering from the tsunami and to cover the costs of relief efforts to date," he said.

Bush said the assistance was largely to rebuild vital infrastructure "that re-energizes economies and strengthens societies."

So far, Japan has been the top donor to the tsunami relief effort in terms of money disbursed, handing out 500 million dollars to United Nations agencies and governments of affected countries.

"I would think the proposal of President Bush is the most generous and most extensive in US history for US government" in terms of aid for natural disasters, Andrew Natsios, head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told a media briefing.

He said Washington was in talks with countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka to determine the reconstruction projects in which US resources could be used.

The news came a day after the US State Department announced that a total of 33 Americans had been confirmed or presumed dead from the tsunami.

The total number of people dead or presumed dead following the subsea December earthquake and tsunami is now put at nearly 295,000, Indonesia announced Monday. Indonesia was the country most severely affected by the disaster.

According to the White House, the 950 million dollars in total aid will include:

- 346 million dollars to defray costs incurred by USAID and the US military for immediate relief;

- 339 million dollars to rebuild infrastructure, such as roads, schools, and water distribution systems;

- 168 million dollars to help survivors return home, including food aid, shelter, housing reconstrution, education, and other programs;

- 62 million dollars for technical assistance for reconstruction activities, as well as costs of US government operations in the region;

- 35 million dollars for early warning and disaster mitigation efforts, including 23 million to improve US and international early warning systems against tidal waves, and 12 million for those efforts in affected countries.

Some portion of the funds request may go to fund debt deferments for countries affected by the tsunami.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said at the briefing that the United States had deployed 16,000 military personnel, 26 large ships, 58 helicopters and 43 fixed wing aircraft in the relief and recovery effort.

Wolfowitz, who visited Indonesia to supervize American military relief operations, said the additional funding was essential to follow up on the mammoth US recovery effort.

He also said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was consulting with Congress on "the way forward" to possible restoration of full military ties with Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

More than a decade after Washington banned military ties due to human rights problems, Indonesia had made progress in terms of "accountability" and military reforms, Wolfowitz said.

He said the review was timely but the administration alone could not make a decision.

The Bush administration had sought to restore military links with Indonesia, in large part to help fight terrorism, but the US Congress has repeatedly blocked the effort.