US rejects Zardari’s complaint about aid

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rejected President Asif Ali Zardari’s complaint that the United States has not delivered on its promises to help Pakistan deal with the aftermath of the Swat operation.

‘I certainly understand the anxiety of anyone in Pakistan; they have taken on this really important challenge of trying to take on the Taliban, but we’ve been providing aid,’ she said. ‘We already disbursed $110 million for the displaced people. We’ve got that out very quickly.’

In an interview to The New York Review of Books, President Zardari said that Pakistan did not have enough funds to deal with the consequences of the military operations in Swat.

‘We have no money to arm the police or fund development, give jobs or revive the economy. What are we supposed to do?’ he said.

The president had also criticised the United States for its slow response to the humanitarian crisis.

‘So I think it may be moving more quickly than perhaps the president knows,’ said Secretary Clinton while responding to Mr Zardari’s interview.

‘But there’s a lot more to be done, and we’re going to try to tee it up and get it delivered as quickly as possible,’ said the top US official in an interview to USA Today.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, left for Pakistan on Tuesday to assess the situation and to accelerate international relief efforts for more than three million people displaced during the military operation.

Also on Tuesday, the State Department announced that almost 6,000 US citizens had responded to Secretary Clinton’s appeal to contribute $5 each through text-messaging.

Although the amount raised — $135,000 — was not large, the campaign does play a major role in raising awareness about the situation in Swat.

In her interview to USA Today, Secretary Clinton said that like other Americans she too was impressed by the Pakistani army’s assault on Taliban militants who had captured much of the Swat valley.

‘I am incredibly heartened by the resolve shown the Pakistani people, government and military,’ she said.

The newspaper noted that the praise marked a major change in the US attitude towards Pakistan’s efforts to combat extremists.

In April, Secretary Clinton told a congressional committee that the Pakistani government of President Zardari ‘is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists.’

Since then, Pakistani troops have attacked the Taliban throughout the region and will have cleared them from major cities and towns in a matter of days. The military also has recaptured Mingora, the Swat valley’s main urban centre.