U.S. to give more flood aid to Pakistan

By Augustine Anthony

SUKKUR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The United States will divert $50 million (32 million pounds) from a development package for Pakistan towards relief funds, the top U.S. aid official said on Wednesday after touring a flood victims camp supplied by a charity with suspected links to a militant group on a U.S. terrorist list.

Officials in Pakistan and its ally Washington are worried that militants could exploit the disorder caused by the floods, and the government's slow response, to gain recruits.

The United States, eager to see stability in Pakistan, a frontline state in its war against militancy, has so far been the most generous donor. It has provided 25 percent of aid commitments and contributions, the U.N. said.

"Let me be clear: This disaster represents a major logistics challenge. We are committed to supporting this significant relief effort as much as possible," U.S. Agency for International Development head Rajiv Shah told reporters.

After touring a camp for flood victims set up in a school, Shah told a news conference that $50 million would be diverted from a five-year, $7.5 billion development package for Pakistan to help the flood relief effort.

Pakistan's government has been accused of moving too slowly in the crisis and could face unrest because anger is rising. Islamic charities have moved in quickly to fill the vacuum.

The camp Shah toured is in a government school served by Falah-e-Insaniyat, a charity with suspected ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its humanitarian wing Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), both blacklisted by the United Nations.

Once nurtured by Pakistan's spy agency to fight India in Kashmir, LeT shares al Qaeda's concept of jihad, or holy war.