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Pakistan Seeks Debt Relief Amid Flood Crisis

   VOA News 23 August 2010
   Pakistani  men  line  up  as they are given a fresh meal at a camp for
   families displaced by floods run by the Pakistan Air Force in southern
   Pakistan

Photo: AP

   Pakistani  men  line  up  as they are given a fresh meal at a camp for
   families  displaced by floods run by the Pakistan Air Force in Sukkar,
   Sindh province, southern Pakistan, 23 Aug 2010

   Three  weeks  of  flooding  in  Pakistan  have left millions of people
   hungry,  homeless,  and  angry  at  their government's response to the
   crisis.
   Islamic  charities, some with suspected links to militant groups, have
   moved rapidly to provide relief to Pakistanis, already frustrated with
   their   leaders'   record  on  security,  poverty  and  chronic  power
   shortages.
   Pakistan  officials  are scheduled to begin talks in Washington Monday
   with  the  International Monetary Fund, seeking to ease the terms of a
   $10  billion  loan  program  the  country  agreed  to  in  2008.  The
   increased  economic  burden  of  Pakistan's worst floods in decades is
   prompting the effort to seek relief from the loan's terms.
   Exceptionally  heavy  monsoon  rains  triggered  the flooding that has
   since  consumed  one-fifth  of  the country. An estimated 1,600 people
   have  been  killed and 20 million Pakistanis have been affected by the
   floods.  New flooding is threatening parts of the south, sending tens
   of thousands of people fleeing to higher ground.
   The   disaster   has  marooned  villages,  wiped  out  infrastructure,
   destroyed crops and killed livestock.
   Aid  workers  fear  poor  hygiene, sanitation and stifling heat in the
   disaster zone could trigger an outbreak of waterborne diseases such as
   dysentery,  cholera  and  typhoid, which could cause what they call "a
   second wave of deaths."
   Pakistani  Foreign  Minister  Shah  Mahmoud  Qureshi  said  Sunday the
   country has received more than $800 million in aid.
   The  United states has been the largest contributor, followed by Saudi
   Arabia  in  Britain.  Rival India offered $5 million.  In addition to
   $150  million  in U.S. aid, Washington has sent 19 helicopters to help
   Pakistan with relief efforts.
   Officials  anticipate the floodwaters will recede in the next few days
   as the surge in the Indus River empties into the Arabian Sea.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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