UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has backed Pakistan's fight against the Taliban and expressed "confidence and trust" in President Asif Ali Zardari.
| No snark -- I am truly shocked. |
| He's a diplomat. They have special training to keep their lips attached ... |
Zardari met the UN chief on Tuesday to ask Ban to initiate global aid for over a million civilians displaced from the restive areas of the country. Zardari told reporters after the meeting that Ban and he were joining in an appeal for assistance to help Pakistan deal with the "human catastrophe" amid the military action to flush out Taliban from the country.
"We're appealing to the world, myself and the secretary general... to draw attention on the human catastrophe that is taking place," he said. "They (civilians) are losing their crops, they're losing their earnings, their livelihood and their homes, so we want the world to help us," he added. "The secretary general has been kind enough to accept our appeal to him and he is going to appeal to the world with us jointly to help Pakistan." The president said the purpose of the meeting was to draw the world's attention to the crisis so that help could be mobilised at the earliest.
Concern: Ban told reporters he had expressed his "deep concern" to Zardari over the humanitarian situation. "I expressed my deep concern and I expect President Zardari to take all necessary care to protect the civilian population," the UN chief said. "The UN is ready to stand by to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance." A UN statement said the two leaders "covered a wide range of issues relevant to Pakistan, including the regional situation, progress on an inquiry commission into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the Friends of Democratic Pakistan Group". |