Top U.S. official pledges 'long-term' aid for region
Another aftershock killed five people in Afghanistan's eastern Kabul.
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) -- U.S. Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, flew over the destruction in Pakistani Kashmir on Sunday, pledging the United States would send more helicopters and keep up relief efforts for the "long term."
In a bizarre twist, Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims to send aid to quake victims, despite Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's cooperation with the United States in the fight against terrorism.
Meanwhile, Pakistan and India inched closer to a deal that would see the nuclear rivals put aside their long-standing dispute over the Kashmir region for the sake of quake victims, allowing them to cross the disputed frontier.
Another aftershock
An aftershock Sunday -- one of hundreds since the initial Oct. 8 temblor -- killed five people in Afghanistan's eastern Zabul province near the Pakistan border. No deaths were reported in Kashmir.
A 6.0-magnitude quake -- one of the strongest so far -- later struck Pakistan's quake region, but there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
Abizaid said he "saw devastation everywhere" during an aerial tour of the region. He promised 11 more Chinook helicopters would soon arrive to bolster relief efforts that already include 17 American helicopters and the U.S. Army's only Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
"I think the most important thing we can do is, by our own example, show the rest of the world that there's a lot more work that needs to be done," he said.
Mission criticized
The U.S. mission in neighboring Afghanistan, which falls under Abizaid's command, was recently criticized for an incident in which American troops allegedly burned the remains of two slain Taliban fighters -- a desecration under Islam -- and used the scene for propaganda purposes.
Abizaid said he hoped the Islamic world would look to the relief mission in Pakistan for its impression of the U.S.
"The response of the United States of America is really the face of the United States of America that everybody should pay attention to," he said.
Strangely, Al-Qaida echoed U.S. general's call for more aid.
"You should send as much aid as you can to the victims, regardless of Musharraf's relations with the Americans," said Osama bin Laden's deputy, Egyptian surgeon al-Zawahri, in a videotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera television.
The 7.6-magnitude Oct. 8 earthquake was thought to have killed at least 79,000 people, mostly in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir and destroyed the homes of more than 3 million people.
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