UN chief meets Zardari, Gilani

ISLAMABAD - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Sunday called on Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and was briefed on the devastation caused by floods across the country.

Gilani informed Ban that all political parties were ready to lend help in providing relief to the millions of displaced people. The prime minister listed food, medicines and shelter provisions for the flood-hit people as the most important requirements.

Gilani said the biggest challenge is to prevent an epidemic and return of normalcy in the flood-hit areas.

A cholera outbreak has already been reported in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which was hit by floods about two weeks ago.

The UN secretary general said the global community would be alerted about Pakistan’s needs in such an alarming situation.

The country is grappling with its worst ever floods that have left over 1,600 people dead and affected over 14 million people. A media report put the total economic loss due to the floods at around Rs.250 billion ($2.92 billion).

Earlier, Ban was received at the Chaklala airbase in the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at great_wall165@yahoo.co.uk)

–Indo-Asian News Service

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