WASHINGTON, Nov 18: In a show of support to earthquake victims, the US is sending a high-powered delegation to the international donors’ conference, which begins in Islamabad on Saturday. Andrew Natsios, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, will lead the delegation, which will include Assistant Secretary of State for Christina Rocca and other top State Department and USAID officials.

On Thursday, US President George W. Bush urged leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group during a meeting in Pusan, South Korea, to contribute generously to the earthquake relief and reconstruction funds, officials said.

“He expressed concern about the plight of various peoples in distress: the people in Pakistan struggling to recover from the earthquake,” said US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley while briefing journalists about the meeting.

Other senior officials to attend the donors’ conference in Islamabad include Anthony Wayne, assistant secretary at the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Rear Admiral Michael LeFever, Disaster Assistance Centre Pakistan, Wesley Wilson, senior policy advisor at USAID, and Mary Gin Kennedy, Bureau of South Asia (Pakistan Desk) earthquake coordinator.