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| November 24, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 21, 1426 |
Britain announces more aid to earthquake stricken Pakistan LONDON, (APP/AP) Prime Minister Tony's Blair's government on Thursday announced an extra 25 million pounds (US$43 million) in humanitarian relief to earthquake stricken Pakistan. Blair would also chair a round-table discussion on relief for Pakistan at his Downing Street office, to be attended by representatives from the United Nations, NATO, aid agencies and the private sector, according to Blair's official spokesman. The relief pledge is on top of 33 million pounds (US$56 million) Britain has already provided since the Oct. 8 quake.(Posted @ 20:32 PST)
Hollywood's Jolie, Pitt arrive in quake-hit Pakistan MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Nov 24 (AFP) Hollywood megastars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrived in Pakistan Thursday to visit victims of last month's giant earthquake, officials and witnesses said. Jolie, who has been a UN High Commissioner for Refugees goodwill ambassador since 2001, visited the flattened mountain town of Balakot in a "show of support for survivors of the disaster", the UNHCR said. The Oscar-winner, who is making her third visit to Pakistan and her second this year, also took part in a helicopter airlift of food, blankets and tarpaulins, the agency said in a statement. It did not give details about Pitt, with whom Jolie has been romantically linked since his split from Friends star Jennifer Aniston. However witnesses said he had accompanied Jolie during some of her activities. Before boarding her flight for Pakistan the Tomb Raider star said she had been looking deeper into refugee issues during a two-day visit to the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.(Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Pakistani winter quake tragedy must be averted: UN MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Nov 24 (Reuters) The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visited the disaster zone on Thursday and said the focus of earthquake relief efforts was now to avert a tragedy over the imminent winter. "What we are trying to do is create conditions for people to be able to go over the winter without any tragedy," Guterres told reporters in Muzaffarabad. "That's our commitment, that's our concern, that's what everybody together is working to achieve," he added. Chief U.N. coordinator in Muzaffarabad Rashid Khalikov later told Guterres that the biggest challenge for the relief effort could be an exodus of people from high-altitude settlements once the cold weather bites. Kashmir's relief commissioner, Salim Bismil, told Guterres that authorities expected up to 50,000 more people to come down from mountains during winter, joining thousands who have already arrived. Gutteres also met the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, Sikander Hayat Khan, who told him that "what we achieved over the last 40 to 50 years had gone in 40 to 50 seconds.”(Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Indonesian president on surprise visit to quake-hit Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (AFP) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived for a surprise visit to Pakistan Thursday, to show solidarity after last month's devastating South Asian earthquake, officials said.Yudhoyono, whose own country is still recovering from the December 2004 tsunami, will hold talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf during his stay, the foreign ministry said. He will also meet members of the Indonesian community, a ministry spokesman said.Indonesia and Pakistan are the world's two most populous Muslim-majority nations.The October 8 earthquake killed 73,000 people in Pakistan and 1,300 in Indian Kashmir. Around 220,000 people died in last year's Indian Ocean tsunami, the majority of them in Indonesia.(Posted @ 11:20 PST)
More aircraft carrying relief goods arrive ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (APP): More aircraft carrying relief goods for the quake survivors arrived at Chaklala airbase on Wednesday. Pakistan army, volunteers of various organization are meanwhile distributing tents and blankets in remote affected areas. An Italian ship carrying 140 heavy vehicles along with 250 engineers and technicians arrived in Karachi to help reconstruction work . The British Department of International Development has donated three helicopters. On Wednesday, about 500 tons of relief supplies including 990 tents and 2,000 blankets were delivered through helicopters and 84 trucks in the remote areas of Azad Kashmir. Also, construction of 100 houses in Allai area of NWFP has started under a scheme announced by the Punjab Government.(Posted @ 09:10 PST)
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