WASHINGTON, 16 November 2005 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday said aid to help his country recover from the October earthquake that killed nearly 74,000 people and left millions homeless was vital to fighting terror.
Asked on NBC television’s “Today” show whether increased aid from the United States would help Pakistan combat terrorism, Musharraf replied: “Yes it will. It will lend more credibility and strength to our decision that we took of backing the United States and being with the United States.”
“The people would understand that joining the coalition, fighting against terrorism, joining, supporting the United States against terrorism, were all correct decisions,” he said.
Pakistan plans to host a donors’ conference in Islamabad on Saturday to try to raise the billions of dollars it needs to help victims and to rebuild areas devastated by the Oct. 8 quake.
Musharraf told NBC that $5.1 billion in aid would be required, including $3.5 billion for reconstruction. The United States has given Pakistan, a key ally in its “war on terror,” $156 million for the relief effort, and some 975 US military personnel are now taking part in relief operations there.
That number is expected to rise to about 1,200 as winter approaches, US officials have said. About two dozen US military helicopters have also been ferrying supplies and moving people around the area.
Musharraf said these Chinook helicopters have become “a household name, and everyone knows that the United States has provided this aid.”
“We will welcome assistance in kind such as sponsorship of houses, schools, hospitals or even villages,” he told Islamabad-based diplomats at his official residence, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Financial contributions would however be preferable as they would “help us build housing and infrastructure on equal basis for all,” he said. Musharraf said Pakistan was working with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations to calculate the cost of reconstruction.
Asked about Americans’ potential reluctance to help a country where Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is believed to be hiding out, Musharraf told NBC: “It’s a failure of intelligence in not being able to identify where this man is. Most of the intelligence ... is directly provided by the United States of America.”
“Whose failure is it? Is it Pakistan, or is it the United States, or is it a combined failure? Let’s not put blame on anyone,” he urged.
Earlier, in Islamabad, Musharraf appealed to the world yesterday to contribute generously at this weekend donor’s conference (Nov. 19) to raise money to help Pakistan rebuild after last month’s massive earthquake.
Pakistan needed “generous assistance” both in cash and kind, Musharraf said ahead of Saturday’s conference, expected to be attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the heads of major financial institutions and aid agencies.
