2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 13, 2005 NATION/WORLD
Aid pours in for quake victims NEWS IN BRIEF
U.S., Pakistani, German , Aziz said small aircraft were able to
- ~
and Afghan helicopters
delivered tents, blankets
and medical equipment
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP)
- Rescue efforts gave way to aid relief,
as hopes faded yesterday of finding
more survivors in Pakistan's devastated
quake zone. Still, miracles emerged
amid the misery: A Russian team res-
cued a 5-year-old girl trapped for nearly
100 hours under the rubble of her family
home.
Trucks and helicopters with aid from
dozens of countries choked roads up to
the crumbling towns of the Himalayan
region of Kashmir, but the hungry and
homeless in hard-hit areas remained
isolated four days after the temblor.
"No country is ready for such a disas-
ter," said President Gen. Pervez Mush-
arraf in a nationally televised address,
acknowledging delays in his govern-
ment response but saying that relief
operations were now fully under way.
The 7.6-magnitude quake Saturday
demolished whole towns, mostly in
Kashmir, divided by a cease-fire line
between Indian and Pakistani territo-
ries. The death toll was believed to be
more than 35,000, with tens of thou-
sands injured.
A strong aftershock shook the capi-
tal Islamabad today, causing buildings
to move for a few seconds. It was not
immediately clear what the aftershock's
land at the airport in Muzaffarabad, but
C-130 transport planes still were only
able to airdrop equipment and supplies.
The United Nations estimated some 4
million people were affected, including
2 million who lost homes, and warned
that measles, cholera and other diseases
could break out. Some 50,000 Pakistani
troops joined the relief effort.
Washington has pledged $50 million
in relief aid to Pakistan, a key ally in its
fight against terror. Yesterday, British
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced
an additional $17.5 million, on top of
$3.5 million already promised.
The World Bank said it would double
its initial commitment of aid to Pakistan
to $40 million and said the long-term
amount could run to hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars.
Relief supplies poured in from about
30 countries - including 25 tons of
tents, medical supplies and food from
longtime rival India. The Indian effort
was not without a glitch, however, as
a plane from New Delhi was forced to
turn around because Pakistan said there
was no room to land. The plane got
new clearance and arrived in Islamabad
before dawn.
Most of the quake's victims were in
Pakistan, with more than 1,400 people
killed in Indian Kashmir. New Delhi's
aid offer and Pakistan's acceptance
reflect warming relations between the
nuclear-armed rivals, who fought two
of their three wars over Kashmir and
embarked on a peace process last year.
A group of Pakistani men carry an injured loved one on a bed as they climb
in the mountains after the road from their remote village to Balakot, Paki-
stan was blocked following an earthquake.
magnitude was or if it caused any dam-
age.
U.S., Pakistani, German and Afghan
helicopters delivered tents, blankets and
medical equipment and brought back
dozens of badly injured people on each
return flight. The choppers flew in clear
skies after stormy weather forced the
suspension of flights Tuesday.
"The problem we are seeing right
now is that there's so many injured Pak-
istanis, we just can't take back everyone.
We are limited for space," U.S. military
spokesman Col. James Yonts said at a
base near Islamabad.
At a landing zone in Muzaffarabad,
the capital of Pakistan's portion of
Kashmir, doctors selected only the most
severely injured for evacuation.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice arrived in Islamabad, where Paki-
stani leaders appealed for tents, water,
blankets and clearing equipment.
"We will be with you in your hour of
need. We will be with you not just today
but also tomorrow," Rice said at a news
conference with Prime Minister Shau-
kat Aziz.
r
BAGHDAD
Key constitutional amendments approved
Iraqi lawmakers approved a set of last-minute amendments to the constitution
without a vote yesterday, sealing a compromise designed to win Sunni support and
boost chances for the charter's approval in a referendum just three days away.
The deal came as insurgents pressed their campaign to wreck the vote. A suicide
bomber killed 30 Iraqis at an army recruitment center in a northern town that was
struck by another bomber just a day earlier.
The amendments made some key concessions to Sunni Arabs, starting with the
first article underlining that Iraq will be a single nation with its unity guaranteed
- a nod to fears among the disaffected minority that the draft as it stands will
fragment the country.
Other changes open the door to Sunni Arabs to try to make more dramatic
substantive changes in the constitution later, after a new parliament is elected in
December.
Sunnis want to weaken the considerable autonomous powers the Shiite and
Kurdish mini-states would have under the constitution. But there's no guarantee
they will succeed: They will still likely face strong opposition from majority Shi-
ites and Kurds in the new parliament
DAMASCUS
Syrian interior minister found dead in office
Syria's interior minister, who effectively controlled Lebanon for two decades,
was found dead in his office yesterday, days before the release of a U.N. report that
could implicate high-ranking officials in the murder of Lebanon's former prime
minister.
The Syrian government called the death of Brig. Gen. Ghazi Kenaan a suicide,
but opponents claimed it could be a murder to cover up top-level involvement.
The news of Kenaan's death shocked Syrians, and the government felt com-
pelled to stress it would not affect the country's political stability.
Kenaan, who was Syria's intelligence chief in Beirut for 20 years, was one of at
least seven Syrians recently questioned by a U.N. team investigating the Feb. 14
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
WASHINGTON
White House defends Miers nomination
The White House tried yesterday to patch a growing fissure in the Republican
Party over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers by pointing to her conservative
religious beliefs. "Part of Harriet Miers's life is her religion," President Bush said.
Bush defended his nomination, saying Miers was highly qualified, a trailblazer
in the law in Texas and someone who would strictly interpret the Constitution -
something his conservative supporters want evidence to support.
NEW ORLEANS
Contention of police brutality questioned
A police union official and a lawyer for officers accused in the beating of a
retired teacher yesterdaysharply disputed the man's contention he was brutalized
during his arrest, which was captured on video.
Attorney Frank DeSalvo said the video shows a truncated version of the Satur-
day night arrest and he disputed details the video appears to have captured, includ-
ing whether the 64-year-old suspect was punched in the face.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports
CORRECTIONS
A story in yesterday's edition of the Daily (Study: Positive view of Colum-
bus lingers) incorrectly named Brittany Marino as the president of the Native
American Student Association. The story should have said that Marino is a
member of the organization.
A story in yesterday's edition of the Daily ('Hotel Rwanda hero receives
award from 'U') incorrectly stated that the movie had won Oscars and that it was
released in February. The movie was nominated for three Oscars but did not win
any, and was released in December 2004.
Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com.
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