Israeli quake aid likely through UN
By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan said it will accept any financial aid from Israel for victims of the devastating earthquake, as the Islamic Republic cautiously warms up to the Jewish state after decades of hostility.
“I think we have already clarified that, and the prime minister has said we have the president’s relief fund into which anyone can contribute. There are no restrictions,” Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told newsmen on Saturday. “If Israel wants to contribute we have no objections,” she added.
The move could prove controversial with hardline Islamic parties opposed to any improvement in ties with Israel. Aslam ruled out the possibility of relief goods from the Jewish state landing in the Islamic Republic directly.
No consignment is expected directly from Israel to Pakistan, she said, adding that Israel could join multilateral efforts to help. The United Nations had launched an appeal for assistance and “there is likelihood that Israel will contribute funds there”, she said.
“The ICRC (International Red Cross) is also collecting donations and if Israel wants it can contribute to that also.” Israel offered assistance to Pakistan after a massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake rattled the country on October 8, despite the absence of relations between the two countries. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said Saturday the death toll had jumped to 38,000, with 62,000 injured and 3.3 million homeless in the country’s north and part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. “It may still go up. It is a colossal tragedy,” Sherpao told reporters.
The Israeli offer followed an unprecedented handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom, met in Turkey on September 1, the first official diplomatic contact after nearly 60 years of hostility. Hardline Islamic parties burned American and Israeli flags to show their anger at the move, saying it would harm the Palestinian cause. Supporters of the opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six Islamic parties, took to the streets during a countrywide protest it called a day after the talks.
Alliance chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the government had sold out to US demands for improved ties with Israel. Musharraf has defended the Kasuri-Shalom talks, saying the meeting did not mean Pakistan had recognised the Jewish state and that Islamabad would only do so once a Palestinian homeland was established. The moderate Pakistani president, who took power in a military coup in 1999, has angered Islamic parties by supporting Washington’s “war on terror” and by cracking down on extremists. But general popular sentiment in Pakistan appears favourable to better relations with the Jewish state.
Analysts have said the contacts between the sole Muslim nuclear power and Israel will improve Pakistan’s image in the West and with the United States’ influential Jewish lobby.