Annan urges escalation of Pakistan aid effort

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for a major escalation of the effort to aid earthquake victims in Pakistan, predicting many more deaths if the world fails to respond adequately.

"What is needed is an immediate and exceptional escalation of the global relief effort to support the work of the government of Pakistan," Annan told a news conference.

He described the effort as one of the most difficult ever undertaken due to the extent of the devastation, the rough terrain and the approaching Himalayan winter.

Annan criticised as inadequate the response so far by governments and international organisations to a UN appeal for US$312 million ($442 million) to meet emergency food, shelter and sanitation needs, saying it lagged far behind the response to last December's Indian Ocean tsunami.

Since the October 8 quake, about US$84m -- or 27 per cent -- of the appeal had been pledged, compared to the tsunami appeal, which was more than 80 per cent funded within 10 days of the disaster, he said.

Without enough blankets or winterised tents to protect the area population from the falling temperatures, there will be "a second wave" of dead of massive proportions, he said.

"We need helicopters, trucks and heavy-lifting equipment. It will require shelter and health care," he said. "There are no excuses. We must rise to this challenge."

- REUTERS