Holbrooke asks European,Muslim nations to aid Pakistan
SHAH MANSOOR CAMP, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke urged European and Muslim nations on Thursday to help families who have fled the conflict in Pakistan's Swat valley and avert a humanitarian crisis.
Pakistan launched an offensive to expel Taliban militants from Swat last month in a move welcomed by Western allies worried that the nuclear-armed state was sliding into chaos.
About 2.5 million people have been displaced by the fighting in Swat and other parts of the northwest.
"What I can't stress too highly enough is the job is to get them home, and that requires security and assistance from the rest of the world community," Holbrooke told reporters at the Shah Mansoor Camp, 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
"The reconstruction phase is going to cost as much as the humanitarian phase."
Holbrooke said he would meet Pakistani leaders, including army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, in Islamabad on Friday to discuss the next phase of holding, securing and rehabilitating Swat after the operation to clear the valley had been completed.
The army has retaken the main town in Swat, and more than 1,200 militants and 90 soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Another 10 militants were killed and six arrested, in the past 24 hours, the military said in a statement. One soldier was killed.
A roadside bomb hit a security force convoy travelling to Buner district, just to the southeast of Swat, wounding 16 paramilitary soldiers and policemen, police said.
ANOTHER $200 MILLION
When he arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, President Barack Obama's point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan announced the United States aimed to give Pakistan $200 million (124 million pounds), in addition to $110 million already pledged, to aid the displaced.
"I would point out again that the United States is giving almost half of all the aid Pakistan has got so far. That's not right," Holbrooke said.
"Where are the Europeans? Where is the OIC?" Holbrooke said, referring to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference which groups the world's Muslim nations.
The United Nations has launched an appeal for $543 million, but Manuel Bessler, head of U.N. Organisation for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), told reporters in Islamabad that a little more than a fifth had been received.
"If we're short of resources, we'll be forced to scale down our operations," Bessler said.
Holbrooke spoke with about 30 grey-bearded elders at the camp to listen to people's worries as they waited impatiently for an all-clear from the government to go home.
"I'm ready to go today," said villager Ahmed Bazir. "They just put us here in the tents and then they don't care about us. Look at us ... we're just sitting here waiting for tea."
The U.S. diplomat also went into a tent occupied by the family of a barber who had abandoned his home and business.
"Everybody here wants to go home," Holbrooke said. "They're out of work, they're out of money and they're not far from their homes. But to go home they're going to need security.
The camp, along with another across the road, provides shelter for about 20,000 people. About 90 percent of the displaced have found refuge with families in areas on the plains below the mountains where the fighting has been concentrated.
The government first unleashed the army in late April when militants crossed from their Swat stronghold into neighbouring Buner valley, 100 km (60 miles) from the capital.
Holbrooke said the United States was encouraged by the firm action taken by the military after a peace deal reached earlier with the militants had broken down.
Parliament had hoped to pacify Swat and neighbouring areas by conceding to a militant demand for the imposition of Islamic sharia law. Holbrooke termed the deal a "surrender disguised as a truce," and said its failure came as little surprise.
(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)