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UN chief to tour Pakistan flood devastation
AFP - 1 hour 40 minutes ago
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UN chief to tour Pakistan flood devastation
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will fly into Pakistan on Saturday to visit flood-devastated areas as aid agencies warn of a potential "second wave" of deaths in the country's worst humanitarian crisis.
The visit comes as President Asif Ali Zardari, under fire for pushing ahead with a European tour earlier this month, has scrapped independence day celebrations on Saturday out of respect for the flood victims.
The United Nations has appealed for 460 million dollars, of which 175 million has already been pledged, but says billions will be needed in the long term as the country struggles to rebuild infrastructure and replant crops.
"We need fast funding otherwise more people are going to die," Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP.
UN officials warn that the damage to infrastructure and the economy will put this volatile country back years.
Up to two million people require emergency shelter and six million depend on humanitarian assistance to survive, fanning widespread anger against the weak US-backed government, amid looting and misery on the ground.
"Another wave of flooding may hit Pakistan in the next three or four days," information ministry secretary Mansoor Sohail told a news conference.
The UN chief arrives late Saturday. He "will discuss relief efforts with government leaders on Sunday and visit flood-devastated areas the same day," foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP.
Outside the city of Sukkur in the southern province of Sindh, residents waded through stagnant flood waters up to their chests, retrieving valuables and lashing out at the government for failing to stop looting.
"We left with our belongings in a tractor when armed men surrounded us. They snatched everything and fled," mother of five Mai Meema, 60, told AFP in a tent city. "We were poor people but never slept on an empty stomach. This flood has made us beggars. We have nothing at all."
The United States has increased its aid to 76 million dollars and US Senator John Kerry will also visit next week to drum up donations for this fractious ally.
The United States, which has put Pakistan on the front line of its war on Al-Qaeda, has begun dispatching US Marine helicopters from an amphibious assault ship to help the relief effort, amid concerns about Islamist extremism.
India, which has tense relations with Pakistan, offered five million dollars in assistance on Friday.
Pakistan says 14 to 20 million people face direct or indirect harm from the flooding.
The United Nations believes 1,600 people have died, while Islamabad has confirmed 1,384 deaths.
World Bank president Robert Zoellick said initial estimates forecast over a billion dollars in crop losses and that a team from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank was assessing reconstruction needs.
Zardari has come under mounting pressure from the powerful opposition and the public over his handling of the crisis and failure to cut short a visit to Europe last week.
He visited flood victims on Thursday for the first time in the nearly three-week crisis.
Apart from a flag-raising ceremony, independence day celebrations on Saturday will be scrapped. Zardari will appeal to the nation "to come out and help your grief-stricken brethren," his spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, told AFP.
The Pakistan meteorological service has forecast scattered and at times heavy rain in coming days but says water flow is dropping. Heavy rain lashed the northwest on Friday, causing a suspension of aid drops by US and Pakistani helicopters.
In the Punjab town of Muzaffargarh, local official Farasat Iqbal said the situation remained dangerous, although a spokesman for the government of the southern province of Sindh, Jamil Soomro, said flooding had eased.
Lack of clean drinking water and sanitation are spreading gastroenteritis and skin diseases, particularly among children, doctors say.
Struggling aid agencies urged donor nations to rush through the 460 million dollars in aid, warning of a potential "second wave" of deaths from disease.
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