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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 43
22 - 28 October 2005


CONTENTS:

PAKISTAN: Interview with WHO country head, Khalif Bile Mohamud
PAKISTAN: Impact of local media reporting the earthquake
PAKISTAN: Food assistance vital to quake survivors
PAKISTAN: Urgent need for shelter as aid slowly reaches sick and
   injured
PAKISTAN: Thousands trapped in tourist resort
PAKISTAN: Waiting for quake aid nearly three weeks on
PAKISTAN: Urgent need for emergency radio for quake survivors
PAKISTAN: School reopens amid the dead
PAKISTAN: Interview with Andrew MacLeod, head of UN Emergency
   Coordination Centre
PAKISTAN: Massive and urgent increase in quake support needed - UN
PAKISTAN: Disease warning network established
PAKISTAN: Parents retrieve quake children from hospitals
PAKISTAN: Interview with UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Jan Vandemoortele
PAKISTAN: Child beggars line roadsides
PAKISTAN: Amputees need crutches, wheelchairs, prostheses
PAKISTAN: Fresh tremors bring new challenges
PAKISTAN: Village of the dead
PAKISTAN: Relief still missing in many villages
PAKISTAN: Further consolidation of quake relief effort
PAKISTAN: Tetanus claiming lives daily
NEPAL: Interview with Jurgen Wilhelm, director general of German
   Development Service
TAJIKISTAN: Exhibition highlights UN's work
AFGHANISTAN: Earthquake kills five in south
AFGHANISTAN: United Nations and rights bodies criticise jailing of
   journalist
KYRGYZSTAN: Anti-government protests continue following killing of deputy
KYRGYZSTAN: Anthrax on the rise in south
KAZAKHSTAN: Press freedom deteriorates ahead of presidential election
UZBEKISTAN: Arrest of moderate opposition leader politically motivated
   - rights groups
UZBEKISTAN: UN rights experts question Andijan trial
IRAN: Japan donates US $1.5 million to UNHCR
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


PAKISTAN: Interview with WHO country head, Khalif Bile Mohamud

Pakistan's healthcare system took a direct hit in this month's
devastating earthquake in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP)
and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which killed over 53,000 and injured
thousands more. In a comprehensive interview with IRIN, country head for
the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud,
offered his insight into the disaster.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49809&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Impact of local media reporting the earthquake

Pakistan was hit by the worst earthquake in its history earlier this
month where so far over 54,000 are known to have died in Pakistan and
1,300 in Indian-administered Kashmir. Some aid workers say the donor
response to the massive disaster had been muted compared to other big
disasters because the crisis has been less effectively covered by the
media, in particular by local news services.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49810&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Food assistance vital to quake survivors

With the onset of winter before him, Ishtique Abbasi knows all too well
that food will be a problem. Having survived this month's devastating
quake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, he must now wrestle with how to
feed his family. Overhead, relief helicopters fly up and down the Jehlum
valley to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, but
Ishtique wonders when assistance will reach them.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49811&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Urgent need for shelter as aid slowly reaches sick and injured

Winter in the earthquake zone is fast approaching with night-time
temperatures well below zero in many places. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has expressed grave concern over the lack of shelter,
including tents and blankets for the affected population of around 4
million.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49791&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Thousands trapped in tourist resort

Mohammad Bashir Zaman, a guide, is among thousands of people still
trapped in the popular Pakistani tourist resort of Naran, following the
devastating regional earthquake of 8 October. Whereas only two or three
lives were lost in the Naran area - one of the most popular destinations
in the Kaghan valley - following the quake most local people have been
trapped in the area by landslides on roads, unable to travel southwards
and now desperately short of food.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49792&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Waiting for quake aid nearly three weeks on

Each day for the past week, Allah Nawaz, his son Zain, nine, and
daughter Fareeda, 13, sit by the main road leading from Muzaffarabad
towards Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, gazing up at passing
trucks bearing relief goods.Their wait continues for up to eight hours
each day, hoping against hope a truck will stop and hand over something.
Most vehicles drive past at high speed to larger settlements further up
the road. Then the family trudges wearily back up the steep path that
leads to their home village of Lawasi, 4 km from Garhi Dopatta -
reaching home two hours later.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49796&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Urgent need for emergency radio for quake survivors

Internews, a leading international media development organisation, has
called for immediate action to improve the information flow to victims
of the huge earthquake which hit Pakistan on 8 October, leaving over
53,000 dead and up to 3 million homeless.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49755&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: School reopens amid the dead

Children gathered on tattered mats and small pieces of carpeting spread
out under a colourful canopy in earthquake-ravaged Balakot, where no
building remains, drawing surprisingly cheerful pictures. Unlike child
survivors of other traumatic events, they don't depict the terrible
sights that followed the quake, but images of their homes as they once
were - children playing outside the simple bricked structures, wild
flowers growing in gardens, goats grazing on green areas.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49759&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Interview with Andrew MacLeod, head of UN Emergency
Coordination Centre

As donors met in Geneva and the UN increased its South Asia quake appeal
to almost US $550 million on Wednesday, the chief of operations for the
United Nations Emergency Coordination Centre in Pakistan, Andrew
MacLeod, gave graphic accounts of how the relief shortfall is impacting
on earthquake survivors. Fresh off a helicopter from the
quake-devastated city of Muzaffarabad, he shared with IRIN some of the
many challenges they now face.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49771&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Massive and urgent increase in quake support needed - UN

The United Nations called on Wednesday for a massive and urgent increase
in donor commitment to help the survivors of the South Asian earthquake
that has killed at least 79,000 people, according to Pakistani
authorities. "We need more resources to save 2 million to 3 million
lives and we need much more resources in the next few days," Jan
Egeland, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49772&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Disease warning network established

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pakistani health ministry
have established an early warning and response network to identify and
respond to outbreaks of disease in quake-ravaged areas of the country.
"It's up and running and routine data is slowly coming in," Altaf
Musani, emergency operations manager and a spokesman for the World
Health Organization (WHO), told IRIN in the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad, noting as of Monday, there had been no reported outbreaks.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49729&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Parents retrieve quake children from hospitals

Bouncing from one end of his bed to the other, 10-year-old Muhammad
Shafiq is luckier than most. Having survived the deadly quake of 8
October in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, he
was taken to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where he recovered from
his wounds only to gain a reputation for his strong sense of mischief.
But for the past two weeks doctors had been in a quandary over who he
was, much less his parent's identity and whether they were in fact still
alive.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49732&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Interview with UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Jan Vandemoortele

This month's earthquake in Pakistan devastated much of the country's
North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir,
resulting in one of the largest and most difficult humanitarian relief
efforts ever. One day before Wednesday's upcoming donor conference in
Geneva, Jan Vandemoortele, UN Resident Coordinator for Pakistan and
recently appointed Humanitarian Coordinator, shared his thoughts with
IRIN on the disaster and why the international community must act
urgently.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49733&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Child beggars line roadsides

Five-year-old Shahzeb cannot read the notice he holds up. Scrawled on a
piece of white cardboard are four large letters in English. They read
simply, 'HELP'. "My big brother made this notice for me. I go to school
but we haven't yet learned to read English," Shahzeb explained. The
mischievous grin that lights up his face as he talks suggests that
despite the cold and the fact he has had no cooked meal for many days,
he is rather enjoying his new task.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49701&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Amputees need crutches, wheelchairs, prostheses

As fresh aftershocks shake his bed, 16-year-old Hamid instinctively
tries to rise to rush outdoors. Then he realises he cannot do so. Both
his feet have been amputated and swathes of white bandages wrap his
lower legs. "I am helpless. When a new earthquake comes, I will die here
and perhaps that would be for the better. I often wonder if life is
worth living as a cripple who can do nothing," Hamid said from his bed
at the district hospital in Mansehra, gateway to some of Pakistan's most
picturesque mountain valleys in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49703&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Fresh tremors bring new challenges

As fresh tremors shook northern Pakistan on Sunday night, Zainab Khatoon
from Bisham, a town of some 30,000 people, 250 km from the capital,
Islamabad, began screaming in fear. The town is close to the epicentre
of the original earthquake that struck more than two weeks ago. The
17-year-old did not stop for over an hour and then only when a
paramedic, apparently no longer able to take the screams ringing out in
the darkness, injected her with a powerful sedative.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49708&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Village of the dead

The village of Jabri Kailash is draped in an eerie silence, every house
flattened. The settlement is about 50 km from Balakot, close to the
epicentre of the devastating regional earthquake that hit earlier this
month. A lone goat hops over the piles of debris in the village, as if
searching for the people who once lived here. All the 4,000 inhabitants
of Jabri Kailash are unaccounted for " and presumed to be dead.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49718&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Relief still missing in many villages

All the dead in Oghi have finally been buried. Grave digger Mohammad
Salim, 38, finally sits down for a much-needed cup of tea, savouring the
single rusk his wife has served with it. Relief supplies in the small
town are still scarce and Salim has not had the time to travel to
Mansehra or other towns to buy food. "I have dug grave after grave," he
said. "Though it seems callous to even talk about myself, the fact is my
back is aching so badly I can hardly stand up. There were plenty of
volunteers to help me, but grave digging is technical work and very
tough labour. It needs experience to dig a proper grave."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49699&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Further consolidation of quake relief effort

UN agencies gathered in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Saturday,
in a further effort to coordinate relief efforts with NGOs, donors and
the government to quake-affected areas of the country. "It's obvious
that the job of relief and reconstruction will be colossal," Jan
Vandermoortele, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in
Pakistan, said at the press conference.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49697&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Tetanus claiming lives daily

Ghani Muhammad, 34, is concerned his son, Faraaz, may not survive the
injuries he suffered when their house caved in during the quake on 8
October. Faraaz, 6, did not suffer serious injuries. Ghani, and other
villagers in their home area close to the town of Battagram, pulled him
out from under the debris within 45 minutes. The only injuries inflicted
were multiple abrasions on his face and head -and a deep gash running
from his knee to his ankle.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49698&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


NEPAL: Interview with Jurgen Wilhelm, director general of German
Development Service

The German Development Service (DED) has been working in Nepal for more
than 35 years, providing personnel and contributing more than US $2.5
million each year to the country, primarily to boost local governance
and democratic participation.

DED director general Dr Jurgen Wilhelm recently visited Nepal to gain a
better understanding of the situation in a country where development
work has been severely hampered by nine years of conflict between armed
Maoists rebels and the state. In an interview with IRIN, Wilhelm raised
particular concerns about local governance in Nepal and emphasised the
importance of local municipal elections scheduled for February 2006.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49704&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


TAJIKISTAN: Exhibition highlights UN's work

A photo exhibition highlighting United Nations activities in Tajikistan
is under way in the capital, Dushanbe, as the world organisation marked
its 60th anniversary on Monday. "The main goal of the exhibition is to
show not what the United Nations is doing in Tajikistan, but what Tajiks
themselves are doing for their country. The UN is [only] helping them
sometimes in tackling some issues," William Paton, UN Resident
Representative and Coordinator in Tajikistan, said at the opening
ceremony.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49711&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Earthquake kills five in south

At least five people have been killed and six injured, when an
earthquake struck Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan on Sunday,
a defence ministry spokesman said. "The quake hit the Shinkai district
of the [southern] Zabul province, damaging dozens of mud-build houses,"
Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi said on Monday in the capital, Kabul.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49715&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: United Nations and rights bodies criticise jailing of
journalist

The United Nations, Afghan human rights bodies and the national
independent association of journalists have all criticised a two-year
jail sentence given to the editor of a women's magazine for publishing
anti-Islamic articles. Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the monthly magazine
Haqooq-e-Zan (Women's Rights), was arrested on 1 October after
complaints about his articles, in particular one which questioned
Islamic punishments for crimes such as adultery.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49736&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Anti-government protests continue following killing of
deputy

Rival groups held demonstrations on Tuesday in the centre of the Kyrgyz
capital, Bishkek. One group, about 300 strong, was made up of relatives
and supporters of Tynychbek Akmatbaev, a member of parliament killed
last week by inmates during a visit to a prison near the capital.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49761&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Anthrax on the rise in south

Anthrax is spreading in southern Kyrgyzstan, where upwards of two dozen
cases have been registered over the past few months, health officials
said on Wednesday. Epidemiologists in the south of the former Soviet
republic reported that in September and October alone some 25 cases of
anthrax were registered in the two southern provinces of Osh and
Jalal-Abad, describing recent months as some of the worst over the past
few years in terms of the disease dynamics.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49765&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KAZAKHSTAN: Press freedom deteriorates ahead of presidential election

Press freedom is under pressure in Kazakhstan in the run-up to
presidential elections slated for early December, according to media
freedom groups. "There have been too many violations of press freedom in
the country in the past few days, as the government attempts to gag all
those who could embarrass it ahead of the 4 December presidential poll,"
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Paris-based international press
freedom watchdog, said on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49740&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Arrest of moderate opposition leader politically motivated -
rights groups

The arrest of a moderate opposition leader in Uzbekistan charged with
embezzlement and economic crimes following his repeated demands for
reforms, is politically motivated, opposition and rights groups said on
Tuesday. Sanjar Umarov, 49, is the leader of "Serkuyosh Uzbekistonim"
(Sunshine Uzbekistan) - a new opposition coalition. He is also a
successful businessman with links to the energy and cotton sectors and
gained popularity following his vocal denunciation of bloodshed in
eastern Uzbekistan in May.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49730&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: UN rights experts question Andijan trial

Experts with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed their concern over the fairness of
the trial of 15 men in Uzbekistan charged with terrorism after the
uprising in the east of the country in May. A steady flow of information
about the fairness of the trial, obtained from reltives, NGOs and
international organisations, has been coming in to a group of UN special
rapporteurs, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN Special Rapporteur
on Torture, said on Thursday from Geneva.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49795&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


IRAN: Japan donates US $1.5 million to UNHCR

The Japanese government has donated US $1.5 million to the office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Iran to help
Afghan refugees. The donation comes at a time when there has been a
steady decline in donor contributions to UNHCR's Afghan repatriation
programme, coupled with a cutback in UNHCR'S country budget for Iran.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49784&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

The week in Central Asia started with a new clampdown on dissent in
Uzbekistan, with an opposition leader arrested in the capital, Tashkent,
following his repeated demands for reforms. Sanjar Umarov, head of the
Sunshine Coalition opposition group, was arrested on Sunday on charges
of embezzlement and economic crimes, but rights activists say his arrest
was politically motivated.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49837&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


IRIN-Asia
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Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
2005


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