Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday.

The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate.

Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials had criticized the Muslim world for not contributing enough.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organization of The Islamic Conference, likely sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said.

''They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,'' said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would flow through the Pakistani government versus independent organizations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government Sunday, saying much of the money would be wasted ''Eighty per cent of the aid will not come to you directly,'' said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens.

''It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,'' he said during a press conference in his hometown of Multan.

The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.

Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province.

Most of the town's 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across Pakistan.

Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in the center of town and 10 feet (3 meters) in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help.

Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said.

''We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,'' said Baksh. ''We are trying all our best efforts.''

Thatta is located about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.

Many of the people who fled Sujawal and Thatta headed to Makli, a hill just south of Thatta that contains a vast Muslim graveyard. About half a million flood victims are camped out on the hill, Baksh said. Most lack any form of shelter and are desperate for food and water.

''We don't have water to drink, not to mention food, tents or any other facility,'' said Mohammed Usman, a laborer who fled Sujawal several days ago and needed water to help cope with a painful kidney stone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have rushed aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many of the 8 million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

The US said Saturday it would deploy an additional 18 helicopters to help with the relief effort. The US military is already operating 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft in the country, the US Embassy said in a statement. -AP

US urges more help as floods expand in Sindh

WASHINGTON: As “astronomical” floods in Pakistan expanded devastation in southern Sindh province, the top US aid official urged more world support toward alleviating sufferings of around 21 million affected people in the face of hunger, disease and economic hardships.

Dr Rajiv Shah said on his return from the country that for its part the United States, by far the biggest aid contributed in terms of logistical and financial support, is committed to helping Pakistan through both relief and rebuilding phases.

“The scale and the scope of this natural disaster is astronomical....This is a core global humanitarian imperative and we need more international support,” the USAID administrator said at a Foreign Press Center briefing.

Shah, who visited relief camps and met with some of the flood-afflicted people, said he was encouraged by world response to the catastrophe at last week's UN General Assembly meeting, as commitments for relief assistance for the first few weeks neared one billion dollars.

However, with 23 per cent of the cropland under water and the tragedy still unfoling in southern Sindh province, he underlined that “there is no question that right now more can be done.”

“But when you look at the scope of what needs to be done here, you have more than 8 million people probably more than that who need acute services in order to survive and to start to think about building back their lives and livelihoods, and we need more resources and support from inside Pakistan and outside of Pakistan in order to be successful with that. So that's going to be true through recovery and reconstruction as well.”

The USAID administrator spoke spoke as floodwaters threatened the historic city of Thatta and Sujawal amid mass exodus of people, with raging floods exacting a heavy toll on local agricultural economies at several places of the province.

Shah, who spoke to some of his counterparts from other countries on the need to do more in that calamity-hit areas, noted “we need to get more of our international NGO leadership out there so that there's greater capacity for a larger humanitarian response” in the face of flooding reaching new communities in the south.

He also noted that resources spent on the immediate relief will save lives, feed people who need food, and help keep children from experiencing sort of long-term morbidity from diarrhea and a range of other illnesses. Around 3.5 million children face risk of becoming exposed to waterborne diseases.

UAE raises more than 20 million dollars for Pakistan

DUBAI: A nationwide fundraising campaign in the United Arab Emirates has so far raised more than 20 million dollars of aid for Pakistan flood victims, the official WAM news reported.

The campaign, launched by the UAE Red Crescent under the slogan “Your Help,” raised more than 75 million dirhams (20.4 million dollars) over its first four days and will carry on until Monday, WAM said late on Saturday.

It said a live TV fundraising campaign was being run on several Emirati television channels.

Pakistan has a close ties with the oil-rich Emirates, where hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis live and work, mostly labourers.

For nearly a month, torrential monsoon rain has triggered massive floods in Pakistan steadily moving from north to south, affecting a fifth of the country — an area roughly the size of England — and 17 million people.

A senior US official said last week that countries worldwide have pledged a total of more than 700 million dollars toward flood relief in Pakistan.

But reconstruction efforts must begin immediately to prevent the flooding disaster from becoming a long-term catastrophe, aid agency Oxfam said Sunday.

It said billions of dollars would be needed to start rebuilding schools, roads, bridges and hospitals immediately, adding that the aid effort was struggling to respond.

Israel rejects settlement freeze ahead of talks

TEL AVIV: The Israeli cabinet will not vote on extending a partial freeze in West Bank settlement construction before the start of the peace talks in Washington on Sept. 2, a senior cabinet minister told Reuters on Sunday.

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said in an interview that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised him his cabinet would vote on the issue only after the Jewish High Holidays later this month, which fall after the peace summit is held.

“He told us today there will be no decision on Sept. 2 about freezing settlements,” Shalom said, quoting Netanyahu from a closed door session with ministers earlier on Sunday, adding it would be at least two weeks before the government would vote.

Netanyahu will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time this week at the White House at the invitation US President Barack Obama after months of indirect negotiations.

The Palestinians have said any resumption of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank once a 10-month partial moratorium expires on Sept. 26 would bring an end to the direct talks.

Netanyahu, facing pressure from pro-settler groups in his own government, met other ministers on Sunday to discuss a compromise to permit construction to resume only in several settlement blocs Israel seeks to keep under any peace deal.

Shalom, a veteran member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, said he objected to the idea and rejected the Palestinian call for Israel to extend its settlement freeze ahead of talks was “an unacceptable demand”.

He said any decision to ultimately extend the settlement freeze may also create a rift that could topple Netanyahu's coalition government and force an early national election. -Reuters

Pakistan team not institutionally corrupt: official

LONDON: Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed denied Sunday that cricket in his country was riven by corruption in the wake of claims players had taken part in a betting scam in the Test match against England.

Asked if the British newspaper claims against his team proved that Pakistani cricket was “institutionally corrupt”, Saeed told Sky Sports: “I would not like to say that. This is the first time I've been the manager and we've been involved in such a thing.

“Yes, one has heard and one has read (allegations), but I would not like to go that far.”

Saeed also confirmed that Pakistan captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had their mobile telephones taken away by police on Saturday after being spoken to about the newspaper allegations.

“The three gentlemen have had their phones confiscated,” Saeed told Sky Sports.

The controversy stems from a News of the World newspaper report, which claims it paid 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) to a middle man in return for details about the timing of three no-balls in the fourth Test at Lord's, which ended Sunday in victory for England.

The report alleged that Aamer and Asif delivered the blatant no-balls at the exact points in the match agreed with the alleged fixer.

The newspaper published a photograph of the alleged middle man, Mazhar Majeed, who acts as agent to some Pakistan players, counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate. -AFP

Amir's coach rejects fixing allegations

LONDON: The mentor and coach of Mohammad Amir has rejected allegations that the teenage cricket prodigy is involved in corruption following his naming in an undercover match fixing investigation just hours after the finest moment of the player’s burgeoning test career.

The 18-year-old Amir claimed a test best 6-84 in the fourth test against England on Saturday before his achievement was overshadowed by allegations in a British newspaper that he and fellow opening bowler Mohammad Asif deliberately bowled no-balls in a spot-fixing scam.

Asif Bajwa first met the left-arm fast bowler when he enrolled at his cricket and school academy in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He said he does not believe the allegations by the News of the World newspaper.

“I have known him for the last eight years and he is not that kind of chap,” Asif Bajwa told The Associated Press on Sunday. “He is the best cricketer that has ever come through my academy and he was also well educated in Urdu, English and maths.

“My school is run very strictly and with discipline and my boys here would not do these things.”

Amir, the youngest player to reach 50 test wickets, has been likened to Wasim Akram.Wasim, Pakistan’s most successful bowler, has said he was not as good as Amir at such a young age.

“For an 18-year-old — you don’t play against too many 18-year-olds — his skills with the ball are outstanding,” England captain Andrew Strauss said.

Strauss added that it is too early to comment on the newspaper’s claims.

“We don’t know about this. They are only allegations,” he said.

Cricket has in the past been blighted by corruption issues but less so in recent years after the International Cricket Council established an Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) in 2001.

“Mohammad Amir is a young bowler who has done very well so far in his career, all over the world,” Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said. “Certainly, he’s a little disappointed because his name has come through, but we and he will wait until the investigations are over.

“Only then can we say ... if he comes through clean, there’s nothing better than that.”

ACSU officers and Scotland Yard are investigating the newspaper’s claims. Alleged middleman Mazhar Majeed was filmed in the paper’s sting operation and arrested Saturday, his brother and business partner Azhar Majeed told The Associated Press.

Mazhar said in the video, which is on the newspaper’s website, that fixing no-balls was the easiest way to cheat undetected.

The idea is for individuals in illegal betting hubs, mostly in India, to have that information passed on to them and bet on a sure thing.

“The first ball of the third over of the innings,” Mazhar is heard saying. “Asif and Amir are going to be opening the bowling. Amir is going to bowl the first over, yeah.”

Mazhar added: “Then the sixth ball of the 10th over. Asif will be bowling.”

The video clip that followed on the website showed both players’ no-balls, with TV commentators — former England captain Mike Atherton and former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja — highlighting the huge oversteps.

But Bajwa still defended his star student.

“No-balls are part of the game,” Bajwa said. “If you bowl a no-ball, it’s normal. Umar Gul, Asif and Amir have all had problems. You can’t say these things about Amir just because he bowled a no-ball.

“I called him to speak to him last night but his phone was off. I hope he will cope OK with the pressure. I am sure he will because he is strong.”

Easy wins for Chelsea, Man United in Premier League

LONDON: Chelsea maintained their superb start to the season with a 2-0 win over Stoke on Saturday that kept the Premier League champions on top of the table.

But Arsenal and Manchester United also won and moved onto Chelsea’s shoulders in second and third place respectively.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea side have been in fine form in the opening weeks, romping to successive 6-0 wins over West Brom and Wigan, and Stoke were unable to halt their momentum at Stamford Bridge.

Florent Malouda struck in the first half and Didier Drogba converted a late penalty to extend Chelsea’s 100 percent start.

Frank Lampard wasted a chance to give Chelsea an early lead when his penalty was saved by Thomas Sorensen after Ryan Shawcross fouled Malouda.

Lampard’s miss didn’t hinder Chelsea for long as France winger Malouda opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a fine strike from John Terry’s pass.

Ivory Coast striker Drogba drove home a 77th minute spot-kick after Sorensen fouled Nicolas Anelka.

“It wasn’t our best performance but it was an important result,” Ancelotti said.

“I am happy because we won, we didn’t concede a goal, we kept a clean sheet we maintained our position at the top of the table.”

Manchester United moved to within two points of Chelsea after Wayne Rooney’s first goal since March set up a 3-0 win over struggling West Ham at Old Trafford.

Rooney had gone 13 matches without scoring since netting against Bayern Munich last season, but the England striker put United ahead in the 33rd minute.

Ryan Giggs was fouled by Jonathan Spector in the penalty area and Rooney sent Robert Green the wrong way from the spot.

United had squandered the lead twice in their draw at Fulham last weekend, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s team went further ahead this time in the 50th minute when Portugal winger Nani collected Rooney’s pass and lashed his shot past Green.

Dimitar Berbatov condemned West Ham to a third successive defeat when he volleyed home Nani’s cross in the 69th minute.

Ferguson saluted Rooney’s display and said: “The performance was the thing that stood out for me. He’s not had a lot of football lately with a virus that has meant he has not trained, but he looked much more like himself.”

Tottenham crashed back down to earth after their European exploits as Hugo Rodallega gave Wigan a shock 1-0 win at White Hart Lane.

Harry Redknapp’s team had qualified for the main draw of the Champions League for the first time in nearly 50 years thanks to their midweek win over Young Boys.

But they seemed to be suffering a hangover from that result as Rodallega fired home a deflected effort from Hendry Thomas’s pass in the 80th minute to seal the points.

It was Wigan’s first goal of the season after two successive heavy defeats and went some way to avenging last season’s 9-1 defeat in the corresponding fixture.

Earlier, Andrei Arshavin’s second-half winner gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory at Blackburn.

Theo Walcott had put Arsenal ahead in the 20th minute with a low finish.

Mame Diouf, on loan from Manchester United, equalised for Blackburn seven minutes later after El Hadji Diouf out-paced new Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

But Russia winger Arshavin struck in the 51st minute after Bacary Sagna’s strong run down the right to leave the Gunners second.

“If you have ambitions in the league you want to win at Blackburn,” Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said.

“If you don’t win then your ambition will not be respected by other teams so it was an important test for us.”

Andy Carroll underlined his growing reputation with Newcastle’s equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Wolves.

Chris Hughton’s Newcastle had scored six against Aston Villa last weekend, but they fell behind at Molineux in the 43rd minute when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake converted Jelle van Damme’s pass.

England Under-21 striker Carroll, the hat-trick star of that Villa demolition, netted Newcastle’s equaliser in the 62nd minute with a powerful header from Joey Barton’s free-kick.

Fulham rescued a 2-2 draw against Blackpool as Dickson Etuhu’s late equaliser denied the hosts a win in their first top-flight game at Bloomfield Road for 39 years. —AFP