SUKKUR, Nov 6: People’s Party Parliamentarians president Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said the government has failed to provide relief to earthquake victims as thousands of bodies are still buried under the debris.

He was talking to journalists at the residence of party MNA Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah here on Sunday.

He said despite deployment of a large number of army personnel, thousands of bodies lying under the debris had still not been recovered.

Mr Fahim also criticized government’s foreign policy, saying it had failed to motivate the international community for providing aid. He claimed that the relief announced by the international community had yet not been received by the government.

The PPP leader said country’s integrity had been put at stake by allowing the NATO army in the country. He said the Pakistan Army had engineers and other experts, therefore there was no need to call the NATO army.

He said that according to President Gen Pervez Musharraf, country’s reserves were 13 billion dollars. If these reserves could not be used for the welfare of the nation, what was the purpose of the reserves, he asked.

He said Gen Musharraf had accepted help from Israel and India but was not ready to enter into a dialogue with leaders of the two largest parties of the country.

Mr Fahim said that keeping in view the poor foreign policy of the government, PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto would visit European countries to apprise them of the devastation caused by the earthquake and convince them to provide aid.

Answering a question regarding any changes in the party, the PPP leader said it depended on Ms Bhutto and if she thought that changes were necessary, she would make the changes while taking the local leadership into confidence.

Our Khairpur Correspondent adds: Mr Fahim told journalists at Wassan House here on Sunday evening that PPP and different other political parties, NGOs and other civil society organizations had played a major role in relief works in earthquake-affected areas.

He said political parties and the private sector had provided big assistance in relief works and they were still busy in relief efforts.

He said the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy and the PPP were struggling for restoration of democracy and the struggle would continue till the objective was achieved.

The PPP leader said unemployment and poverty prevailed in the entire country but in Sindh it was 50 per cent higher than other provinces. He said the ARD and the PPP were raising the issue in national and provincial assemblies but the government was not solving the problem.

Earlier, he offered condolence to PPP MNA Manzoor Wassan and PPP MPA Nawab Wassan on the death of elder brother of Manzoor Wassan.