ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: President General Pervez Musharraf has emphasized the urgency of continuing relief supplies in the days ahead to the affected areas to alleviate sufferings of the people affected by the earthquake.

The president was talking to Norweigian Minister for International Development Erik Solheim who called on him here on Wednesday.

Gen Musharraf briefed Mr Solheim of the rescue and relief efforts and on the urgent need for rehabilitation and reconstruction.

He said those living in inaccessible mountainous were being asked to come down. The president said that money was also being distributed and committees had been constituted for this purpose.

The president said that Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority was assessing the damages and compiling data. Efforts were being made to rehabilitate children, destitute women and handicapped people.

Pakistan-India relations were also discussed during the course of the meeting.

Mr Solheim said that relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction were gigantic tasks and Norway supported Pakistan’s efforts. He said that on his return, he would apprise the Pakistan-Norwegian community of the situation.

Mr Solheim conveyed condolences of the people and Government of Norway to the president and people of Pakistan on the great loss of life and property as a result of the earthquake.

During his stay in Pakistan, Norwegian minister will visit some of the quake-hit areas and a field hospital and meet other Norwegian NGOs engaged in humanitarian relief efforts in Muzaffarabad on Thursday.

Reuters adds: The financial cost of the earthquake will be more than $5 billion and the death toll is likely to exceed 50,000, President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview published in Singapore on Wednesday.

Gen Musharraf’s comments to the Financial Times came on the eve of a conference of rich nations in Geneva to discuss aid to Pakistan, where an estimated three million people have been left homeless by the Oct 8 quake that also struck India.

Pakistan and international relief agencies have been struggling to deliver vital aid to remote parts of the mountainous Kashmir region, and aid officials have complained that the world is not doing enough to help.

With winter approaching and rain predicted soon, relief workers are racing against time to reach countless people cut off by the quake and feared likely to die of hunger, cold and untended injuries unless help arrives fast.

Gen Musharraf defended his handling of the country’s worst natural disaster saying the government “had done a good, if not a very good, job”.

But he acknowledged that hardline Islamic groups had stepped into an administrative vacuum in the days after the quake, providing relief and humanitarian assistance in Kashmir, a development that analysts say would bolster their legitimacy.

“I know they are doing a good job. But now we need to beat them to it. We need to provide better stuff,” he told the newspaper. He added the government would act against the groups if they were found to be involved in activities other than welfare, such as drawing people towards militancy.