Donors pledge $5b in fresh aid for Pakistan
Saturday, 18 April 2009
TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters/AFP) : Donors pledged over $5 billion in new aid -- more than originally expected -- over the next two years to cash-strapped Pakistan on Friday after President Asif Ali Zardari promised to fight the militancy destabilising the nuclear-armed country.
The international community is worried an economic meltdown in Pakistan, propped up with a $7.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund over two years, could fan popular support for al Qaeda and other militant groups.
Pakistan is central to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan for South Asia, which includes trying to stabilise Afghanistan where Taliban militants -- many operating from lawless enclaves in northwest Pakistan -- have thrown that effort into doubt.
Another report adds, the United States pledged one billion dollars to help stabilise Pakistan, at the start of a donors conference that the World Bank hopes will raise up to six billion dollars.
Almost 30 countries met in Tokyo to pledge aid for cash- strapped Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan and is seen by US President Barack Obama as being at the forefront of the battle against Al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said at the opening of the conference that "we are ready to fight" Islamic extremism, even though "there is a bomb blast every third day" in his country.
"In spite of the fact that I lost the mother of my children, I have taken up this challenge," said Zardari, whose wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a December 2007 attack.
"It does not end on my border. If we lose, you lose. If we are losers, the world is a loser."
Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso, who on Thursday pledged up to one billion dollars for Pakistan, said that "seven and a half years have passed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the world is still facing the threat of terrorism.
The international community is worried an economic meltdown in Pakistan, propped up with a $7.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund over two years, could fan popular support for al Qaeda and other militant groups.
Pakistan is central to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan for South Asia, which includes trying to stabilise Afghanistan where Taliban militants -- many operating from lawless enclaves in northwest Pakistan -- have thrown that effort into doubt.
Another report adds, the United States pledged one billion dollars to help stabilise Pakistan, at the start of a donors conference that the World Bank hopes will raise up to six billion dollars.
Almost 30 countries met in Tokyo to pledge aid for cash- strapped Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan and is seen by US President Barack Obama as being at the forefront of the battle against Al-Qaeda and Taliban.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said at the opening of the conference that "we are ready to fight" Islamic extremism, even though "there is a bomb blast every third day" in his country.
"In spite of the fact that I lost the mother of my children, I have taken up this challenge," said Zardari, whose wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a December 2007 attack.
"It does not end on my border. If we lose, you lose. If we are losers, the world is a loser."
Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso, who on Thursday pledged up to one billion dollars for Pakistan, said that "seven and a half years have passed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the world is still facing the threat of terrorism.