Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead a retired major general of Pakistan Army and his driver in the outskirts of the capital on Wednesday.

Major General (R) Ameer Faisal Alvi from the Special Services Group (SSG) had retired more than two years ago. He was heading for his Islamabad office at 9:30am on Wednesday when the unidentified gunmen stopped his car on Islamabad Highway near the PWD Colony in Koral police precincts, a police official told Daily Times.

They shot at him and his driver Tanveer and fled, he added. Police cordoned off the area and began a search while the bodies were taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Hospital sources said eight bullets hit Gen Alvi – three in the head, two in the neck and three in the chest. The driver had six bullet injuries including one in his head. Police told Online news agency one or more 8MM pistols had been used in the attack.

A first information report had not been registered by Wednesday evening.

Terrorist act: Police sources said the killing was being seen as a terrorist act by ‘militants’. Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives have targeted top army leaders and security officials in the past.

One senior official said personal rivalry could not be ruled out. He said the murder could not be linked with the Lal Masjid operation because the general had retired long before the incident.

Violence began to escalate last July when army commandos stormed the Lal Masjid during the regime of General (r) Pervez Musharraf, himself an ex-SSG head. A wave of suicide bombings has since killed hundreds of people and Taliban have targeted security forces.

Violence subsided when the new government that came to power after the election in February opened talks with Taliban, but it picked up again after top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud suspended the talks in June.

President, PM condemn: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani condemned the killing in separate messages. Gilani deplored the tragic killing and expressed deep sorrow over the demise of the retired general.

President Zardari said he “prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear the loss with equanimity”.

Security has deteriorated alarmingly in the country over recent months with the military attacking Al Qaeda and Taliban strongholds in the northwest while they have responded with attacks on security forces. Two suicide bombers had killed at least 59 people in an attack on the country’s main defence industry complex in August.

Daily Times (Lahore)

WASHINGTON: President Asif Ali Zardari has voiced the hope that President-elect Barack Obama’s administration in the US will recognise Islamabad’s key anti-terror role and understand the fact that Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism.
‘We think we need a new dialogue and we’re hoping that the new (US) government will… understand that Pakistan has done more than they recognise’ and it was a victim of the same insurgency the United States was fighting, he said in an interview with the Washington Post published on Sunday.
President Zardari expressed his disapproval of US drone attacks on Pakistani areas along the Afghan border and urged Washington to instead provide the Predator technology to Pakistan to enhance its ability to fight terrorism.
Rather than using Predators to fire missiles into Pakistani territory, why not give Pakistan its own Predators? ‘Give them to us… we are your allies,’ he said.
He said such unilateral strikes harmed efforts to win hearts and minds of the people. The US should equip Pakistan with advanced weapons to help its forces fight terrorists more effectively.
President Zardari said Pakistan received ‘no prior notice’ of the air strikes and he disapproved of them.
‘If the casualties are women and children, the sensitivity of its effect increases,’ he said.
He said the US ‘point of view’ was that the attacks were good for everybody, while ‘our point of view is that it is not good for our position of winning the hearts and minds of people’.

Dawn

The Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) under the chairmanship of one of Pakistan’s top scholars of Islam, Dr Khalid Masud, has recommended that divorce laws in the country be brought in line with the edicts of the Quran by giving the right of divorce to wives too. It says that a woman has the right to demand divorce and such a divorce would be deemed to go into effect 90 days after “a woman has filed for separation, even if the man does not respond by that time”.

Next, the CII has recommended the registration of divorce proceeding the same way as nikah on a new form that would safeguard the right of the woman under Quran. It wants the nikahnama amended too in order to describe in it the right of the wife to ask for divorce without being bequeathed the right to do so by the husband. The CII report says the husband must be made to register the “first divorce” too instead of the current practice of sending the woman a notice of three simultaneous talaqs. Only after the registration of the first talaq would the later talaqs become valid.

Another drawback for women has been addressed by the CII. A woman demanding divorce has to surrender assets given to her by the husband but not her dowry. The bridegroom should declare his assets at the time of his first marriage and give full details about his first wife and children in the nikahnama in case of a second wedlock. The practice today is that a woman approaching the court for khula (asking for divorce) is accused of possessing assets that were not given to her. Some husbands force wives to surrender their dowries too.

A CII delegation called on President Asif Ali Zardari, the constitutional appointer of the Council, and told him that only around 10 percent of the current Islamic legal provisions would need to be amended. The President responded by setting up a committee under Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mr Babar Awan to look into the report and plan its implementation. This is where the battle for Quranic law will be fought and political reactions from the opposition would be carefully examined before going ahead with a truly revolutionary reform.

Of course, the PPP government will immediately come under pressure from a number of quarters. The non-religious political parties in the opposition may secretly agree with the CII recommendations but they will issue threatening statements against implementing them, calling the CII an extension of the Musharraf period. The religious parties will start issuing equally dangerous statements which the “media mujahideen” will highlight since the clergy of all stripes is considered a de facto authority on Islam. On top of it all, the Taliban and Al Qaeda will declare themselves opposed to the reform and vow to kill anyone who favours it.

But the truth is right there if you want to know it. Women must have rights given to them by the Holy Quran. This has been highlighted in the past by Islamic scholars and by lawyers. It is no accident that the recommendations of the CII, without being aware of it, conform to the findings of a Pakistan activist, Ms Rashida Muhammad Hussain Patel, the founder in 1985 of the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association (PAWLA), a pressure group for the reform of laws discriminating against women.

In her book “Woman versus Man: Socio-Legal Gender Inequality in Pakistan” (2003), Rashida Patel had demanded reforms that the CII has now adopted. She objected to the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 on the grounds that it asked the bride to declare whether or not she was married earlier whereas no such provision was applied to the bridegroom. The chapter on divorce discusses the three ways of giving talaq to a wife. The good way is according to the Quran but simultaneous three-time divorce (talaq bidat) is not according to the Quran even though it is acceptable to the court of law. Ms Patel asked: how can a husband who is just one party to the contract of marriage annul the marriage unilaterally without the consent of the other signatory to the contract? She called it a misinterpretation of Islam.

The Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 never became law because the clergy rejected it. Since 1961, clerics have been going to court asking for the annulment of the provision of registration of nikah and talaq. In 2003, in a discussion on TV, a cleric bluntly told Pakistan’s renowned Islamic scholar Javed Al Ghamidi that the practice of the old jurists was to be held above the Quran, despite the fact that the practice of talaq is not uniform in the Islamic world.

Will the PPP soon get cold feet and will Mr Babar Awan, himself a popular orator on Islam, tell the CII to “cool it”? It would be a great day in the history of Pakistan when its women get their rights from its parliament. *

Editorial Daily Times

After a period of intense inter-party jousting, the two mainstream parties, the PPP and the PMLN, have come together again and made contact at the apex. On Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari got Mr Nawaz Sharif over to dinner and discussed the political situation with him, vowing that he would move the country forward in collaboration with the PMLN. Mr Sharif repeated his undertaking that he would do nothing to destabilise the government and join hands with Mr Zardari in facing up to the problems of terrorism and economic crisis.

This is the first “summit” meeting since August when the PMLN got out of the coalition with the PPP. Three months of non-communication or communication through public statements has exacerbated the political environment. In politics, aggression is expressed through non-communication. We hope that, despite all the differences that crowd the pages of the newspapers, the two leaders will continue the practice of meeting each other. Indeed, it would do the country no harm if they met once a month, not to make compromises on their fundamental party positions, but simply to reaffirm that they would not act against each other’s legitimate interests.

People who believe that such meetings would be “unnatural” will point to “irreconcilable contradictions” between the two parties. In democracy, partisan politics is based on “alternation” in power. The party in power is opposed by the party in opposition because it stands as the “alternative” in the eyes of the people. Thus, at the people’s level, it is very important for the leaders to keep their differences highlighted so that their constituencies can remain distinct. The “PPP-PMLN coalition” that did not last was in some respects foredoomed because the partylines were threatened with dilution. The hawks then struck out and embarked on a campaign of aggressive criticism to re-establish obscured identities.

In the 1990s, the PPP and the PMLN were reputed to be “undemocratically” hostile to each other, not averse to using unparliamentary means to dethrone each other and victimise each other’s supporters through what passed for “accountability”. Both hurt themselves in the process and were in some ways responsible for the dilution of their power to rule and its transfer to a third element. But this was realised and then remedied in the Charter of Democracy of 2006 signed by both the parties. In a way the Charter describes the limits beyond which they will not take their traditional habits of political rivalry. Therefore the reference to the Charter in the Saturday dinner can only be welcomed.

The PMLN has backed an increasingly anti-PPP lawyers’ movement but has also showed restraint when the lawyers wanted to go over the precipice. It is upset that President Zardari should retain the 17th Amendment that excludes Mr Sharif from holding the post of prime minister. Mr Zardari’s response on Saturday was that the 17th Amendment could be removed or amended only with a two-thirds majority in parliament; and he will inevitably link it to another proposed amendment in respect of the judges’ appointment since it figures in the Charter as well. If this is an impasse because Mr Sharif insists on the revival of the judiciary under Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry, an overtly anti-PPP political step, it doesn’t mean that the two parties should go on the warpath.

Going at each other’s throat — apart from the fact that it will benefit neither party — will hurt the country. The PPP rules in three provinces and controls the country’s industrial hub in Karachi; the PMLN rules in Punjab which means it rules over 60 percent of the population of the country. The lines are firmly drawn and spheres of power clearly described. Additionally, the PMLN is popular in Punjab, as it were, across the board. So Mr Zardari can hope to survive as a leader if the PPP’s tenure in power is successful and Mr Sharif can extend his party’s increasingly provincial appeal to the national level if he tones down the hostile rhetoric of his party hawks.

What is clearly indicated here is mutual respect and collaboration on national issues. It is said that Mr Zardari’s trip to Saudi Arabia was not such a shining success because he had not taken Mr Sharif along. If this is true, and if it is also true that the Saudis actually asked Mr Zardari about Mr Sharif, then Mr Sharif should have been invited to go along. Mr Zardari’s efforts at communicating with the rival leadership are commendable; but equally commendable is the determination of Mr Sharif not to revert to the past patterns that brought so much misfortune to the people of Pakistan. *

Daily Times Editorial

KARACHI, Nov 6 (IPS) - The most watched polls ever in the world had
their share of attention in Pakistan, complete with news updates, TV
talk shows, call-ins from Pakistanis living in the United States and
speeches by President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

Chatter in tea-stalls and living-rooms continues to be dominated by
the U.S. presidential elections. The constant barrage of information
streaming in from dozens of television channels in multiple languages
has ensured that `’even an illiterate person has been educated about
these elections,” said Abdul Jabbar, a driver.

“This is the first time that someone with a dark skin has come into a
position of such power. Everyone is happy about it,” Jabbar added.

Repairmen gathered by a broken elevator in an upmarket Karachi
apartment building on the evening of Nov 4 seemed elated. “He will be
the first Black President of the US,” said one, indicating newspaper
items to his colleagues as they squatted on the floor over cups of
sweet, milky tea.

Electric light from the broken elevator’s open shaft illuminated the
Urdu daily `Aaj Kal’ that he held open. They looked at a picture of
Obama superimposed over an image of the White House. A repairman
poked his head out of the elevator shaft to take a look. “I think
this will be good for Pakistan,” he said.

Many Pakistanis hope Obama’s Muslim heritage will make him more
understanding of their culture, even though the President-elect has
consciously distanced himself from this heritage, even dropping the
use of his middle name Hussein.

As a student in Lahore told a television reporter, explaining why
Obama’s election has given hope after eight years. “He has some cells
of Muslim blood”.

Another student disagreed, saying that while Obama may be good for
the U.S. , “it doesn’t make much difference to Pakistan”.

There has been interest here about Obama’s `Pakistan connection’,
stemming from a college friend whom he mentions in his
memoir, `Dreams from my Father’. He is also reported to have
travelled to Pakistan in 1980 (when his mother Ann Dunham worked here
with a micro-credit finance project ) and in 1981 to visit a college
friend.

“Pakistanis grudgingly share the global excitement of Mr. Obama’s
victory,” contends Islamabad-based political analyst Nasim
Zehra, “Grudgingly, because many have not forgotten his campaign
rhetoric of possibly attacking Pakistani territory to combat
terrorism.”

Former newspaper editor and ambassador to Washington Maleeha Lodhi,
currently a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, told a television
anchor that such rhetoric may perhaps have been an attempt to “act
and sound tough on Afghanistan and Pakistan” since Obama had opposed
the war in Iraq.

However, as Zehra points out, Pakistanis, who have a greater
understanding of the complexity of the terrorism problem and bear the
high costs of this violence, “found Obama’s resolve to attack their
territory both aggressive and naïve.” As many as 3,000 military and
paramilitary and many more thousands of civilians have been killed
over the last five years as the `war on terror’ has escalated.

“This notwithstanding, Pakistanis at the same time hope for and
expect Obama, as president, to be more patient, wiser and more
multilateralist in the conduct of US foreign policy. There is also
expectation in Pakistan that behind his combative electioneering
rhetoric exists a more informed outlook that will determine America’s
choices,” says Zehra.

Many considered Obama’s victory speech both sober and thoughtful. He
also indicated his willingness to reach out and dialogue rather than
use force. As he said in Chicago on the night of Nov. 4, ‘’the true
strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the
scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals:
democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope'’.

Obama’s priorities were also indicated by his positive references to
the working poor, to women, the importance of building schools and
creating jobs, and the acknowledgement that “we cannot have a
thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers'’.

The U.S. elections also reinforce the importance of the electoral
process, a lesson that many consider necessary for Pakistan to learn,
given that its democratic process has constantly been interrupted by
governments being toppled under a constitutional amendment introduced
by a military dictator, or by military rule itself.

Asked by a Pakistani reporter if the U.S. stood at a “moral
crossroads” given the policies of the past eight years and the change
that has been promised, a commentator responded with words that have
consonance here: “That’s why we have elections. That is the beauty of
the democratic process. People were not happy with the previous
policies, and the people have spoken.”

Americans of Pakistani origin participated enthusiastically in the
Obama campaign. They included Omar Ali, a medical doctor in Illinois,
who observed that the campaign “mobilised more people than any U.S.
campaign in history, and they were friendly, enthusiastic, fair-
minded and diverse…Whites, Indians, Pakistanis, Christians,
Muslims, people of every group… America at its best.”

“I think he is very smart and his campaign was probably the best run
campaign in history, so I have no doubt he will be competent and will
pick good people and get them to do good work,” added Ali in a
message sent to an e-mail list.

“Having said all that, I know he will be President of the United
States, not some new socialist international revolutionary soviet…
so I expect that the first people to jump OFF the bandwagon will be
those on the far left. Others will no doubt follow,'’ Ali added.

 By Beena Sarwar

WASHINGTON, Nov 5: A deadly attack on a US outpost in eastern Afghanistan in July was executed with the support of local police and government leaders as well as villagers there, according to an internal US military report.

The report, released on Tuesday, recommended that the district’s Afghan police chief and governor be replaced, if not arrested and tried for committing crimes against the government. It also said the incident was an example of repeated problems in the volatile mountain region where the local population was offering “passive and active support” to the insurgents, which also had infiltrated the country’s security forces.

Nine US troops were killed in the attack, launched just before midnight on July 12 by about 200 insurgents. Another 27 US troops were wounded, and of those, 11 were treated and returned to duty.

At least 21 and perhaps as many as 52 of the attackers were killed and another 45 wounded, the report said.

The report was completed on August 13, but an unclassified version was not released until this week. It confirmed many details previously released to the public about the incident, including suspicions that villagers were complicit in the attack.

The assault did not come without warning. Coalition forces had received numerous intelligence reports that an attack on the base was planned, but such threats are not unusual in that volatile region along the Pakistan border.

What was not expected, however, “was the collusion that took place” between the Afghan National Police chief and the insurgents, the report said. Troops also did not see that citizens from nearby Wanat began leaving the village that evening.

“Post-attack intelligence indicates that the district police chief and district governor were complicit in supporting the … attack,” said the report, which was compiled by leaders in the US Army unit that came under assault.

The report also noted that enemy forces fired on troops from within the homes of villagers and from the local mosque, adding that “they could not have achieved surprise without at least the passive support of the villagers”.—AP
Dawn

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected U.S. missiles hit a house frequented by an Arab militant near the Afghan border Friday and killed 20 people, intelligence officials said, in the latest alleged American attack on targets inside Pakistan.

It was unclear if the Arab, identified as Abu Kasha Iraqi, was among those killed in the attack, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Suspected U.S. unmanned planes have fired at militant targets in Pakistan at least 16 times since mid-August, putting pressure on extremists accused of planning attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan — and perhaps terror strikes in the West.

But the marked uptick in their frequency is straining America’s seven-year alliance with Pakistan, where rising violence is exacerbating economic problems gnawing at the nuclear-armed country’s stability.

The United States rarely confirms or denies firing the missiles and the identities of those killed are also rarely made public. Locals frequently say civilians, sometimes women and children, are among the dead.

Two missiles were fired Friday into Mir Ali village in North Waziristan after drones had been flying overhead for several hours, the officials said, citing reports from agents and informers in the area.

They said 20 people were killed in the attack, but their identifies were unknown.

The first missile hit the house frequented by the Arab militant, while seconds later another blew up a car parked close by, the officials said.

Pakistan says the strikes are violations of its sovereignty and insists it is tackling the militants, pointing out an ongoing military offensive just north of Waziristan that has killed some 1,500 insurgents.

Earlier Friday, a suicide bomber attacked a police chief outside his house in the northwestern city of Mardan, missing him but killing three other officers and five civilians, officials said.

The suicide attacker, who was on foot, hit the first vehicle in a convoy as it emerged from the police chief’s residence in the city, but the officer was in another car behind the gate.

“I was the target but such attacks cannot stop us from doing our duty,” said the chief, Akhtar Ali Shah.

TV footage showed a badly damaged police pickup truck just outside the police chief’s residence and rescue workers loading bloodied survivors into ambulances.

There have been more than 90 suicide attacks on civilian, military and Western targets since July last year, killing nearly 1,200 people, according to military statistics.
Yahoo News

ISLAMABAD: Not only the opposition but also some sympathisers of the PPP-led government in the Senate on Thursday opposed loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

They said that if at all such a step was unavoidable, the matter should be debated threadbare in parliament.However, all that fell on deaf ears as no one from the treasury cared to say a word on the issue. Similarly, urgings from different senators for bringing the money stashed in foreign banks back into the country went unheeded.

PPP Senator Enver Baig came hard on the “Friends of Pakistan” for its poor response to a friend who was indeed in need. “The time to break the begging bowl and learn to stand on our own feet has come,” he thundered.

Baig said Pakistan was the frontline state in the war on terror but “when we need the support of our allies, they throw cold water upon us. Rather than taking the begging bowl to donor agencies, we should stand on our own feet and exploit the connections with the Gulf States for sending Pakistani labour to these countries to earn billions through expatriate remittances,” he advised the government.

This was the seventh day of the Senate debate on the presidential address to the joint sitting of parliament. Majority of the senators warned the government to shun the IMF tentacles as this was bound to further burden the already crushed populace groaning under the rocketing prices and galloping inflation. The opposition once again reiterated its offer to support the government for repealing the Article 58(2)-b of the Constitution and doing away with the 17th Amendment.

The opposition protested over reports of privatisation of Qadirpur gas field, disinvestment of 25 percent shares of the National Bank of Pakistan and the Dadu Sugar Mills and sought reasons for the sale of national assets.

This protest led to an exchange of hot words between opposition leader Kamil Ali Agha and Minister for Housing and Works Senator Rehmatullah Kakar. Both accused each other’s governments of siphoning off money.

Another rowdy scene was witnessed when Information Minister Sherry Rehman lashed out at Senator Jamal Leghari while defending her government on criticism made by him. She reminded Leghari of the alleged ingratitude of his family to the PPP without mentioning that the party had made his father the president of the country but he dissolved the second government of Benazir Bhutto.

The opposition once again reminded the government of the delay being caused in formation of the parliamentary monitoring committee in the light of a joint resolution passed after the in-camera session.

Leader of the House Mian Raza Rabbani, however, claimed that the government was committed to implement the document in letter and spirit and all political forces would be taken into confidence. “We will take all political forces with us. There is no waiver for us on the abolishment of the 17th Amendment,” he stated.

Raza Rabbani said that the parliamentary committee on national security, as decided in the joint resolution, would be shortly constituted in consultation with all political leaderships. He said the government believed in the supremacy of parliament and it was for the first time that a threadbare discussion on foreign policy was held in the Senate and a joint session of parliament discussed the national security and adopted a consensus resolution. “We are not shy of parliament but believe in its supremacy. The government will seek guidance from parliament on all national issues,” he assured the members.

Rabbani said as per the commitment, the Foreign Office had summoned the US ambassador and told her about the Senate’s resolution on repeated border violations and the joint resolution. He said that this represented the sentiments of the people.

Regarding the murder of a girl in Khairpur, he said three of her uncles had been taken into custody for interrogation. The government has assigned the task of supervising the interrogation to Nafeesa Shah, MNA, who would submit a report within a day or two. “We have directed the provincial government to arrest the culprits as soon as possible and bring them to justice,” Rabbani added.

Meanwhile, Senator Saadia Abbasi also warned against the IMF loans and demanded that any decision in this regard should be taken with the consent of public representatives. She opposed the IMF facility due to its alleged negative impact on the national economy. She also opposed the privatisation of the Qadirpur gas field.

Senator Dr Malik advocated a change in the behaviour of politicians and said that sincerity should be their hallmark. “If we get sincere with our own people, we can get rid of corruption, social evils, financial and power crises,” he added.

Senator Prof Ibrahim criticised the government for not implementing the Charter of Democracy. He also called for nullifying all the unconstitutional steps by Pervez Musharraf, including against judiciary, and urged the government to implement the declaration of the All Parties Conference held in London.

Senator Enver Baig said the country should focus on export of manpower to friendly countries, which could double our remittances in one year. He suggested that youth from Fata and other backward areas should be sent to friendly countries, a step which would be helpful in fighting terrorism and extremism.

Senator Salim Saifullah deplored that while people were running from pillar to post for getting flour, incidents of terrorism in the country had increased. He said though the present government raised the slogans for provincial autonomy yet it had failed to appoint a federal minister for inter-provincial coordination. “Eight months have passed and the government has failed to complete its cabinet,” he added.

He also reiterated the cooperation offer of his government for repealing the Article 58(2)-b of the Constitution.He said instead of constructing an overhead bridge at Zero Point in Islamabad, the government should make payments to IPPs.

Dr Kausar Firdous called upon the rulers to bring back their deposits from foreign banks, cut their expenditures and let the members also forego their stipend for the days they availed leaves.

She also urged the government to come out with a clear stance on Kashmir. She also urged to redefine terrorism, and also declare bombing of innocent people by coalition forces as terrorism.The Senate was prorogued after a seven-day session. The debate on the presidential speech would continue in the next session of the Upper House of Parliament.

The News

WAM, Pakistan – Children begged for food from trucks passing through Pakistan’s quake zone Thursday as the death toll rose to 215 and survivors prepared for another frigid night camped out amid wrecked mountain villages.

Provincial government minister Zamrak Khan said 215 people died and hospitals were still treating dozens of people who were seriously injured in the 6.4-magnitude quake that struck before dawn Wednesday.

Soldiers and foreign aid groups distributed blankets, warm clothes and tents, in Baluchistan province, near the Afghan border, but many among the estimated 15,000 homeless complained of receiving little help.

“The earthquake destroyed our houses, but now the government’s slow response is killing us,” said Moosa Kaleem, sitting with his wife and four children in the town of Ziarat. “We cannot spend another night in this chilling weather, especially the kids.”

A poorly managed aid effort in Baluchistan could add to anti-government sentiment as the country’s new leaders battle violence by Islamist extremists and try to fix mounting economic problems.

The region is home to a separatist movement but has been spared the level of militant influence and violence seen in other tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Members of hard-line Islamist political parties and groups, including one listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, were among the first to aid quake victims.

The same groups helped out in the aftermath of a quake that killed 80,000 people in Kashmir and northern Pakistan in 2005, something analysts say gave them added legitimacy.

Aid groups said emergency shelter and warm clothing were urgently needed. Temperatures are close to freezing in the worst-affected areas more than 6,561 feet above sea level.

Dozens of children lined main roads in the region running after trucks in the hope of being thrown food.

“I am hungry, my mother is hungry,” said 9-year-old Zarin Gull. “We must get food. We last ate yesterday evening.”

The need for shelter was specially acute because many people, whose homes were untouched or only partially damaged, were choosing to sleep outdoors for fear of aftershocks.

Local officials and lawmakers repeatedly called on the central government and international community to provide more help.

“It is a complete emergency here. Nobody has anything to eat and drink,” said Ziarat Mayor Dilawar Kakar. “We need a lot of resources to reconstruct, and stabilize these trauma stricken people.”

The U.N. World Food Program pledged to supply two months worth of emergency rations for those displaced by the disaster, while the Red Cross was distributing 2,500 tents.

In the hillside hamlet of Kawas, soldiers distributed blankets, tents and sleeping bags to an impatient crowd of 500 people and helped load two dozen trucks with supplies destined for other areas.

In the capital Islamabad, Farooq Ahmad Khan, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, said Pakistan had not issued an appeal for foreign assistance, but any help would be accepted.

Pakistan is prone to seismic upheavals since it sits atop an area of collision between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, the same force responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountains.

Yahoo News

WAM, Pakistan – Soldiers handed out blankets, tents, jackets and sleeping bags to earthquake survivors in the frigid mountains of southwestern Pakistan on Thursday, as a provincial official reported that the death toll had risen to 215.

The 6.4 magnitude quake hit an area of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province near the Afghan border before dawn Wednesday, demolishing an estimated 2,000 homes in a string of villages.

“Oh God, what have you done?” wailed one woman as she surveyed the ruins of hard-hit Wam village. The woman, who did not give her name, said she had lost two brothers, two sons and a sister-in-law.

Officials on Thursday declared the rescue phase of the operation over after residents and emergency workers mounted a final search for survivors or bodies buried in the rubble.

With reports still coming in from outlying areas, provincial government minister Zamrak Khan said the number of dead had risen to 215 and that hospitals were still treating dozens of seriously injured people.

The army airlifted supplies and medical teams into the hard-hit Ziarat district, where an estimated 15,000 people were left homeless in the region, which is some 6,561 feet above sea level.

Officials said several thousand people spent Wednesday night in tent camps erected by the military. But soldiers were unable to reach all outlying areas before temperatures plunged to around the freezing point.

In the hillside hamlet of Kawas, soldiers distributed blankets, tents and sleeping bags to an impatient crowd of 500 people and helped load two dozen trucks with supplies destined for other areas.

Dozens of people had slept in the open near the rubble of their simple mud and stone houses.

“We passed the night shivering and with the children crying. There were five of us wrapped in one blanket,” said Ala Uddin, a 30-year-old farmer camped with about 15 relatives in an apple orchard.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was distributing some 2,500 tents while a medical team with one ton of supplies was helping at overcrowded hospitals.

“Overall, we think the situation is under control though there is urgent need for shelter and blankets because it is freezing up there,” Red Cross spokesman Marco Succi said.

The need for shelter was high because many people were too scared to sleep even in undamaged homes as aftershocks continued to rattle the region, he said.

The latest quake comes at a precarious time for Pakistan, with the civilian government battling al-Qaida and Taliban attacks as well as a looming economic crisis.

At least three hard-line Islamic organizations were quick to aid quake survivors, according to an Associated Press reporter who toured the area.

Among them was Jamaat-ud-Dawa, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government for links to Muslim separatists fighting in India’s portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

The group set up relief camps and won friends among survivors of a 7.6-magnitude quake that devastated Kashmir and northern Pakistan in October 2005, killing about 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Baluchistan is home to a long-running separatist movement, but has so far been spared the level of militant violence seen in the northwestern tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan is prone to seismic upheavals since it sits atop an area of collision between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, the same force responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountains.

Baluchistan’s capital, Quetta, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude temblor in 1935 that killed more than 30,000 people.

Countries including the United States and Germany have offered to help with the latest disaster. However, officials say they can cope without a big international aid effort.
Yahoo News