Fmr. Pakistani Prime Minister Asks Govt To Account For $5B In Aid Received After 9/11

Benazir asks govt to account for $5bn aid received after 9/11

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=52578

4/23/2007

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has asked the government to explain why the massive international aid received after 9/11 has not been utilised to address the issue of poverty in the country.

"During the last six years, Islamabad received nearly $5 billion in aid, another $100 million received every month, besides an equivalent amount in covert transfers," she said, adding "but it has not trickled down to the people”.

She said this while addressing the Pakistani community in Denmark on Sunday.

"USAID figures indicate that between 1954 and 2002, Washington provided $12.6 billion in economic and military aid to Pakistan. Of this, 75 per cent ($9.19 billion) went to military rulers in over 25 years and 25 per cent ($3.4 billion) to civilian governments in over 19 years," she added.

She said Pakistan faced enormous problems, which could not be solved through the model of a renter military class.

"The path to progress and civilisation does not lie in threat perceptions," she said, adding it lies in creating conditions of peace, the message that is common to all religions. It is restoration of democracy that can lead to regional peace as well as internal stability, she added.

According to published reports, a former Pakistan Air Force chief said Pakistan's ruling classes were "addicted to aid". An American Congressman recently said: "There doesn't seem to be any problem in Pakistan that can't be cured with a little more US assistance."

She said the military operation in Balochistan threatened the unity and integrity of the country and asked for disbanding militias to "save our people from sectarianism and religious persecution."

For too long, our Federation has remained under the shadow of the military rule, she said, adding "the problems of terrorism, sectarianism, militancy, extremism and increase in poverty are directly related to the prolonged period of military domination."

Benazir said for decades "our economic approach has been to rent out our army's services for fighting various causes like communism or terrorism.

It lies in creating harmony in society through consensus as well as ensuring that the light of justice spreads throughout the dark corners of the country.

"It is restoration of democracy that can lead to regional peace as well as internal stability. A fractured, bleeding society is calling to all its sons and daughters to hear its call to revive the spirit of Quaid-i-Azam and Quaid-e-Awam's struggle to save our people and our land from the dark shadow of military rule which has blotted out the sun of the people's dreams, hopes and aspirations," Benazir added.