Monday, November 14 2005 10:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that international relief for people affected by the earthquake has been 'reasonably good' but the global response to the rehabilitation and reconstruction issue has not been of the 'level' expected.

"I think we have got reasonable support in the relief operations, in the form of medical assistance, medical teams, hospitals, field hospitals, medical aid, medicines, equipment, and in the form of shelter, blankets, tents, other relief goods, including foodstuff. So I would call the assistance reasonably good," Musharraf said in an interview with CNN.

However, complaining about the global response to the issue of reconstruction, the Pak President said, "But now we are getting into the reconstruction stage and the rehabilitation stage and it is in the reconstruction and rehabilitation where I would say the assistance until now is not, certainly not, of the level that we expect."

Musharraf said UN organisations, World Bank and national authorities had jointly evaluated the support required and it had come to about USD 5.1 billion.

He said it was in the form of about $3.5 billion for reconstruction, about $1.5 billion for relief in the coming one year and about $100 million required for rehabilitation.

"This is the kind of money we are looking for and I don't think we have even got a small fraction of this," he said.

He said that a conference on 'reconstruction' was scheduled in Pakistan and hoped that it would see international donors being generous with funds.

"I hope on the 19th of November, when we have called this conference, we hope to be given assistance generously," Musharraf remarked.