Gilani seeks global help for displaced Pakistanis

August 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Germany has given Rs.1.17 billion (about $14 million) in aid to Pakistan to help the displaced people in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Online news agency reported Friday. The funds will be used to purchase food for the displaced people as part of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

August 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the US to provide drone technology to Pakistan, a media report said. He also demanded an end to the US drone attacks inside Pakistan.

August 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Most Pakistanis hate the Taliban as much as they consider United States as their enemy, a recent opinion poll has reveled. According to Pew Global Attitudes poll about 70 percent of Pakistanis are now against the Taliban's violent policies.

August 11th, 2009 Malakand (NWFP, Pakistan) - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said security forces would remain in war ravaged Swat Valley until displaced people are rehabilitated and normalcy returns to the region completely. "I am confident your presence in the area will not only discourage anti-state elements from regrouping, but also improve the pace of development in the area," Gilani told a gathering of soldiers during his visit to Malakand.

July 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The displaced Pakistanis should not be forced to return to their homes until the security situation improves in the northwest, the UN has said. UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said the conditions have to be right before people are encouraged to return.

July 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said Wednesday the military operation against the Taliban will continue till the militants are eliminated from the country. Zardari made the comments during a meeting with Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

June 20th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The displaced Pakistanis will start returning to their homes from June 25 onwards, the Online news agency said Saturday. The process will continue in phases till July 2 and the returning civilians will be provided food and transportation, the report said citing Fazal Kareem Khatak, commissioner in Malakand Division in northwest Pakistan.

June 9th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The UN has opened three new camps to house the displaced Pakistanis fleeing the war in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said. The displaced Pakistanis continue to pour into the camps as their homes were ravaged in the conflict between the security forces and the Taliban, the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.

June 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the United States to write off all its debt to help Islamabad overcome the prevalent economic crisis. In a meeting with the US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke here, Gilani said Pakistan has been facing a difficult economic situation primarily due to its participation in the US led 'war on terror'.

June 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday called on the US to write off Pakistan's debt to help Islamabad overcome the current economic crisis aggravated by the war on terror, a media report said. Gilani told visiting US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, during a meeting at his house that the debt waver would help Pakistan to mobilise resources for the displaced people in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Geo TV reported.

May 26th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Millions of refugees who have fled Pakistan's restive northwest following the military's anti-Taliban operations can settle anywhere in the country, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilnai declared here Tuesday. They are Pakistanis.

May 25th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the international community and especially the United States and the West to 'do more' for his country's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). He also appealed to all people in Pakistan and the rest of the world to generously assist the IDPs, adding that the whole world would benefit once the Swat operation is over.

May 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said the Army would not be called back from the Swat Valley until peace is restored in the region completely. Addressing an all party meeting here, Gilani said the security forces would only be called back from the region when peace and all the displaced people return to the valley.

May 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed fear that the Pakistan Government may fail to win the "hearts and minds of people" despite winning the military war against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. "I assure you that the army will win the war against the militants.

May 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed concern over the displacement of people in the Swat Valley as the troops intensified their battle against the Taliban in the region, killing at least 200 militants over the weekend. The Pakistani leader has directed the local authorities to help the displaced civilians in the conflict, mainly in the Swat Valley and Malakand division in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Online news agency reported Sunday.