Pakistan welcomes additional assistance for flood victims

Pakistan on Monday welcomed the additional 185 million dollars of flood aid announced on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The bulk of additional aid came from Britain, 109 million dollars, followed by 65 million dollars from Norway and 10 million by Germany. 'We welcome the encouraging response from the international community which shows that they are with us to complement Pakistani efforts,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Monday according to media reports. 'It was not a donor conference. Its purpose was to keep the international community abreast of the latest flood situation,' he said. 'But certain countries announced more aid on the occasion which we welcome.' The UN appealed for another 1.6 billion dollars for Pakistan flood relief on Friday. Earlier, it asked for 460 million dollars for urgent humanitarian needs, of which 80 per cent has been received. Initial estimates show that billions of dollars will be required to rebuild the flooded areas. Pakistan is planning a donor's conference before the end of the year to seek more funds.

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