Saturday, May 30, 2009

DTN News: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Urges World To Fulfil Aid Pledges Of Half A Billion Dollars To Pakistan

DTN News: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Urges World To Fulfil Aid Pledges Of Half A Billion Dollars To Pakistan
*Analysis: Pakistan has been receiving economic and military aid from U.S. over $ 10 billion plus further funds are in the pipeline by several countries and large sums of Pakistan's external debts have been foregone by U.S., Japan and EU since 9/11. Recently, media were reporting that Pakistan military is enhancing increase in nuclear arsenal and inducting new fighter aircrafts and other modern weapons at the cost of its own economy infrastructure. It is high time Pakistan should look into its internal background and stop blaming rest of the world for current conflicts in NWFP (Swat Valley) and eliminate insurgency today, unchecked it is going to spread like cancer all over the globe tomorrow. (DTN News Defense-Technology News .... May 30, 2009) (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - May 30, 2009: The government appealed to the international community on Thursday to provide more assistance for relief and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, second from right, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, right, with Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, third from left, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, second from left, and U. S. Ambassador in Pakistan Anne Patterson in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 25, 2009. Gilani briefed the senators regarding anti-Taliban operation going on in northwest Pakistan. At a meeting held to review relief work for the IDPs, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani urged donor countries to fulfil pledges of assistance they had made for the affected people. Representatives of the United States, Britain, EU and other countries promised at a conference last week to make fresh commitments after the United Nations launched a global appeal for $543.2 million. The meeting discussed plans for return of the displaced people to their homes. It was informed that over 51,300 tents had been set up in different places in the NWFP and 30,583 tons of foodstuff distributed among the IDPs. Over 300 tons of food items have been sent to the people stranded in conflict zones. The meeting was informed that Nadra had set up kiosks across the country for registration of the IDPs and the National Bank and other banks would open dedicated windows to give them debit cards. The prime minister asked the Nadra authorities to complete the registration work soon so that the affected people could be provided with cash and other assistance.
The meeting was briefed on arrangements being made for providing electricity, drinking water, fans and other items of basic needs to the IDPs. The prime minister asked the authorities concerned to ensure uninterrupted supply of basic necessities. He asked the provincial government and the Special Support Group to work for restoration of services in the affected areas and beef up security arrangements for the safe return of the IDPs. Mr Gilani called for providing desert coolers and making arrangements for garbage removal and fumigation. He said the displaced people had sacrificed their present for the future of the nation. He said the ongoing operation against militants and terrorists would continue till its logical conclusion, adding that the writ of the government would be restored at all costs. The report prepared by the Congressional Research Service recalls that as the United States prepared to launch an attack on the Afghan Taliban after September 11, 2001, former military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf ordered that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal be redeployed to ‘at least six secret new locations.’ This action came at a time of uncertainly about the future of the region, including the direction of US-Pakistan relations. Islamabad’s leadership was uncertain whether the US would decide to conduct military strikes against Pakistan’s nuclear assets if Islamabad did not assist the United States against the Taliban. Indeed, Musharraf cited protection of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile assets as one of the reasons for Islamabad’s dramatic policy shift. The prime minister praised the humanitarian gesture of people hosting the IDPs and said the entire nation was united in determination to cope with the challenge. The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Chairman of the Special Support Group for IDPs Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmad, secretaries of cabinet, economic affairs division and health and the NWFP chief secretary.

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