ISLAMABAD, 8 November 2005 — Visiting Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed met with President Pervez Musharraf and reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for Pakistan to help the country recover from the Oct. 8 earthquake.
“I came to Pakistan on the instruction of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to share the pain and sorrow of its people caused by the devastating earthquake,” the Saudi minister told reporters.
He said King Abdullah was deeply concerned with the loss of life and property caused by the Oct. 8 earthquake, which also rendered four million people homeless.
Musharraf thanked King Abdullah for extending sustained aid, relief goods, tents, hospitals and field laboratories to help the survivors of the quake.
“The Kingdom has stood by Pakistan at this moment of despair and trial,” the president said.
He told Prince Ahmed that Pakistan would host a donors conference in Islamabad on Nov. 19 where the international community would be given correct information of its needs and losses.
The conference is likely to evolve a strategy for the rehabilitation of four million people on a permanent basis and suggest measures for creating jobs for thousands of people who have lost their business and properties.
Musharraf expressed the hope that Saudi Arabia would actively participate in the forthcoming conference.
Prince Ahmad, who arrived in Islamabad on Sunday leading a high-level delegation, yesterday visited the Saudi field hospital in Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir. He was accompanied by Federal Minister for Interior Aftab Ahmad Khan.
In Muzaffarabad, Prince Ahmed was received by the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Sikandar Hayat. He was later taken on an aerial survey of the disaster areas. He was also briefed on relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations in the region.
Later speaking to journalists, Prince Ahmed said the Kingdom would extend all-out support to Pakistan. “On behalf of King Abdullah, I wish to inform you that we will support Pakistan all the way in its efforts to reconstruct and rehabilitate the earthquake-hit areas,” he said.
Prince Ahmed said only part of the Saudi relief supplies had reached Pakistan, adding that more would come soon. He distributed Qur’an copies and Zamzam water to the quake survivors receiving treatment at the Saudi hospital in Mansehra.
