US promises $60m more for Pakistani flood relief

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who announced the new amount in an interview with Pakistan’s Dawn TV, joined Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and other top US and foreign officials at a UN donors conference later yesterday to highlight the extraordinary nature of the floods, which have affected 20 million people.

“Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami,’’ Ban told the delegates. “At least 160,000 square kilometers of land is under water, an area larger than more than half the countries in the world.’’

At an Asia Society forum on the flood just before the UN special session, Qureshi said his country had never seen anything like it.

He told the gathering of diplomats, investors, relief officials, journalists, and Pakistani Americans: “1919, I’m told, was a megaflood. This far exceeds that.’’ To make matters worse, Qureshi said, the flooding “has struck in an area where we were operating against extremists and terrorists.’’

Qureshi, who was joined by Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, singled out the United States for leading the international effort to respond to the calamity.

“Thank you, America,’’ Qureshi said, noting that ordinary Pakistanis recognized the US contributions. “You have shown the world that you are a caring nation.’’

He also thanked George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist, who announced plans this week to allocate $5 million in flood relief funds to a Pakistan democracy program he runs — more money than most countries have offered. The Asian Development Bank is also extending $2 billion in low-interest loans over the next two years to help fund a massive reconstruction effort, Holbrooke told reporters.

The US pledge moved the United Nations closer to raising the nearly $460 million it is seeking to pay for relief operations over the next six months. The slowness of the global response to the appeal has prompted criticism of many of Pakistan’s closest allies, including China and oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

“I think the Chinese should step up to the plate,’’ Holbrooke told reporters. “They always say Pakistan is their closest ally.’’

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s president warned yesterday that Islamist terrorists may exploit the chaos and misery caused by the floods to gain new recruits — remarks echoed by a leading US senator who said America would stand by its vital wartime ally during the crisis.

The floods have affected 20 million people and about one-fifth of Pakistan’s territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggles against Al Qaeda and Taliban violence. Aid groups and the United Nations have complained that foreign donors have not been quick or generous enough given the scale of the disaster.

“All these catastrophes give strength to forces who do not want a state structure,’’ President Asif Ali Zardari said during a press conference with John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, after the two visited some of the country’s hardest-hit areas and a relief camp.

“There is a possibility that the negative forces would exploit the situation,’’ Zardari said. “Like they would take the babies who have been made orphans and take them to their camps and train them as the terrorists of tomorrow.’’

Zardari’s government has been criticized for failing to respond quickly enough, and Islamist charities — at least one of which has alleged links to terrorism — have been active in the flood-hit areas.

There also are concerns the scale of the suffering could stoke unrest and political instability that may distract nuclear-armed Pakistan from the fight against the Taliban. Already, the military has had to divert thousands of soldiers and a good deal of equipment from battling the militancy to rescuing flood victims.

“None of us want to see this crisis provide an opportunity or an excuse for people who want to exploit the misery of others for political or ideological purpose, and so it is important for all of us to work overtime,’’ Kerry said.

More than three weeks after the floods first began, the United States, Germany, and Saudi Arabia all announced new pledges of aid, while Japan said it would send helicopters to help distribute food, water, and medicine. The Asian Development Bank said it would redirect $2 billion of existing and planned loans for reconstruction.

Saudi Arabia said it would donate $80 million to Pakistan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, making it one of the largest donors. The country has for years sought to project its influence in Pakistan and has funded the spread of hard-line Islamic theology here that many say gives traction to armed extremist movements.

Germany will add $32 million to $18 million previously pledged, according to the text of remarks to be delivered by Minister of State Werner Hoyer.

The United States has dispatched 19 Army helicopters to hard-hit areas. The United States’ primary concern is humanitarian, Kerry said. “Obviously there is a national security interest.’’

Material from the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.