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| India-Pakistan |
| Haqqani reassures on aid workers' security in flood-hit Pakistan |
| 2010-08-29 |
| [Pak Daily Times] Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani on Saturday reassured international flood relief workers of security, saying that a large number of foreign aid providers had been able to operate safely in Pakistan in recent years. "The government has, of course, a whole security strategy for aid workers and no aid worker has been hurt in Pakistan in the last several years," Haqqani told a US TV channel, following reports of Taliban threat against international relief workers. He said that while every terrorist threat should be taken seriously, the Taliban "use threats, sometimes, to intimidate and dissuade people from coming (to Pakistan)". "One of their objectives, of course, is to create greater discontentment and greater unrest against a government that is democratically elected," the diplomat said. Haqqani recalled that the Taliban militants had also issued a similar threat after the 2005 earthquake, when aid workers came to Pakistan in big numbers. "We were lucky; no one got hurt. We hope that we will be able to provide for the security of aid workers," he said. He also underscored the fact that an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis welcomed the foreign assistance they were getting. "In fact, if anything, they want more people to come and assist them. This is a major catastrophe, 21 million people affected, 9 million children on the move," Haqqani said. "The Taliban are no doubt a very dangerous militant group, but relief work is going on smoothly," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |