BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The U.S. military - the largest group aiding tsunami survivors - says it will immediately begin scaling back its relief operations. The Indonesian Health Ministry said 70,000 people previously listed as missing were now counted among the dead, a development that would push the overall death toll to more than 221,000.

But conflicting death estimates from different government departments meant the exact count was not clear. Agencies within two countries - Indonesia and Sri Lanka - were reporting different death tolls, thousands of people were still listed as missing, and officials say the true toll will probably never be known.

In Japan, nations at a U.N. conference rallied behind plans for a network of buoys to warn of future killer waves in the Indian Ocean.

Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. military "will start right now transferring functions to the appropriate host nations and international organizations."

About 15,000 American troops have been deployed to tsunami-hit nations, where huge waves spawned by a massive earthquake swept away coastal settlements on Dec. 26. Most of the soldiers have been sent to worst-hit Sumatra island in Indonesia.

At a news conference today, Fargo, who was on a two-day visit to Malaysia, noted that the humanitarian missions in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other affected countries have moved from the "immediate relief phase ... toward rehabilitation and reconstruction."

Earlier, Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak said Fargo had told him that the United States will scale down its relief operations in Aceh by the end of February.

Late Wednesday, Indonesia's health ministry upped its death toll by more than 70,000 to a new total of 166,320, although its count differed sharply from other Indonesian government tallies; the Social Affairs Ministry put its figure at 114,978 dead.

If the death toll is confirmed, the overall toll would rise to more than 221,000.

At a U.N. conference in Kobe, Japan, participating nations discussed plans for a network to detect tsunamis in the Indian Ocean and warn coastal residents of the danger.

On the third day of the five-day meeting, delegates gave the go-ahead to start examining various proposals, including the one by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO proposed a network of deep-sea buoys and regional communications centers that would cost $30 million and go into operation by mid-2006.

Eventually, U.S. officials say the Pacific warning system could also extend to the Mediterranean, Caribbean and other parts of the globe. A U.N. official, however, stressed that the United Nations, not the United States, would lead the effort.

Also today,

Indonesia's military said it killed at least 120 separatist rebels in Aceh province over the past two weeks, despite an informal cease-fire in the region since the Dec. 26 tsunami, Indonesia's army chief of staff said.