By Zeeshan Haider
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Nov 16 (Reuters)
- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, speaking ahead of a post-earthquake donor meet, urged the world on Wednesday to show survivors same generosity it did after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
While praising foreign help during the rescue and relief phase after the deadly Oct. 8 earthquake, Musharraf complained of "negligible amounts" received so far for rebuilding against the outpouring of support seen in the wake of the tsunami and Katrina, which ravaged the southern U.S. coast.
"I will leave it to individual countries to think how much they paid there and how much they have given to Pakistan," Musharraf told a news conference in the garrison town of Rawalpindi ahead of the Nov. 19 conference in Islamabad.
Multilateral donor agencies estimate that Pakistan needs $5.2 billion for relief and reconstruction operations in Pakistani Kashmir and the adjoining North West Frontier Province, the two regions that bore the brunt of the earthquake.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to attend the conference along with heads of multilateral financial institutions and representatives from donor governments and major corporates.
So far, Pakistan has received pledges of $2.4 billion, but most of it is earmarked for relief.
Just over $300 million has been pledged for reconstruction and rehabilitation, which is expected to cost $3.5 billion.
"We seek assistance from international community because I don't think Pakistan can go it alone," Musharraf said, adding that the costs were higher because of difficulties posed by the terrain and harshness of the winter in the Himalayan region.
The earthquake killed more than 73,000 people.
It affected an estimated 3.3 million people. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, and with many mountain roads blocked by landslides, aid has yet to reach many people in high, remote areas with winter closing in.
The United Nations and other relief agencies are clamouring for funds, and the U.N. has received only a fraction of its own flash appeal of $550 million to help Pakistan.