Five million Pakistanis at risk from floods, says U.N. (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Up to five million people in Pakistan are at risk from floods this year, partly due to poor reconstruction and the inadequate rehabilitation of survivors who are still reeling from last year's epic deluge, the U.N. said on Wednesday.

Monsoon floods began roaring through Pakistan in late July last year, leaving one-fifth of the country -- an area the size of Italy -- underwater, disrupting the lives of more than 18 million people.

The government and aid organisations were criticized for being too slow to respond while the military, seen as a far more efficient institution, took the lead in relief operations.

As Pakistan braces itself again for its annual monsoon season -- which runs from late June to early September -- the U.N. says authorities and the aid community have learnt lessons and are better prepared -- even for the worst case scenario.

"Since the beginning of March, we have been in close contact with the government to make sure response is up and running and that we are better prepared this year," said Manuel Bessler, head of the U.N. emergencies office (OCHA) in Pakistan.

"The most anticipated scenario is two million affectees and the worst case scenario is five million. We are prepared for these two scenarios," he told AlertNet by phone from Islamabad.

Last year's flooding -- which went on for almost three months and wiped out villages from the far north to the deep south of the country -- is considered to be one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent times. Around 11 million people were left homeless, 2,000 were killed, infrastructure such as bridges and roads washed away and millions of acres of crops destroyed.

POOR RECONSTRUCTION

Based on forecasts from the Pakistan Meteorological Department, this year's monsoons are, in general, likely to be 10 percent below normal.

But despite this, millions could be hit by floods, partly because infrastructure such as dykes and embankments were "weak" and could have been strengthened better, said Bessler, who heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

A lack of funds has meant that some communities have not been able to adequately reconstruct their homes or regain financial income after losing their livelihoods as farmers, making them more susceptible this year.

The U.N. last year appealed to the world for almost $2 billion -- the biggest appeal ever launched by the body for any humanitarian emergency -- to help survivors. Yet, 30 percent of the appeal remains unfunded almost one year on.

"The vulnerabilities are higher this year than last year," he said. "This a because of poor timing and a lack of funding which has meant that perhaps, things were not be done to the level they could have been."

Also, environmental conditions such as increased snow melt in mountainous areas was leading to high water levels in rivers, while ground water levels were already high after last year's deluge, reducing its absorption capacity.

Bessler said the humanitarian community were prepositioning relief items --- tents, water and sanitation equipment and filling up warehouses with food items, as well as establishing coordination structures with authorities at federal and provincial levels.

"The monsoon will happen -- its just a question how big and if external assistance is needed by Pakistan," he said.

"We have to be ready because this would be a major failure if the government and humanitarian community have not learnt the lessons from last year's experience."

(Edited by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Gates: Raid humiliating for Pakistanis

The U.S. raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed him on May 1."If I were in Pakistani shoes, I would say I've already paid a price," Gates saysHe and Mullen say there is no sign Pakistan's senior leaders knew of bin Laden's compoundBoth express concern that so many details of the raid have been made public

Washington (CNN) -- The ability of the United States to enter Pakistan, kill Osama bin Laden and leave without detection was a humiliation to Pakistanis, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Wednesday.

But Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, insisted there is no evidence Pakistani's senior leadership knew of the bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

"If I were in Pakistani shoes, I would say I've already paid a price. I've been humiliated. I've been shown that the Americans can come in here and do this with impunity," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon, responding to a question about what should be done if someone in Pakistan's government did know. "I think we have to recognize that they see a cost in that and a price that has been paid."

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Mullen told reporters the incident was a "humbling experience" for the Pakistanis that has led to "internal soul-searching."

"They've been through a lot tied to this, and their image has been tarnished. And they care, as we all do, and they care a lot about that. They're a very proud military," Mullen said.

Both he and Gates said there is nothing to suggest senior Pakistani leadership knew the al Qaeda leader was in their midst. The United States does suspect some in the government, military or intelligence knew, but for now that is just a U.S. suspicion. They said they have found no evidence to support it.

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"I mean, the supposition is somebody," Gates said. "We don't know whether it was, you know, retired people, whether it was low-level. Pure supposition on our part. It's hard to go to them with an accusation when we have no proof that anybody knew."

Mullen said the relationship between the two countries faces challenges going forward but its continuance is crucial for the United States.

"I think it would be a really significantly negative outcome if the relationship got broken," Mullen said.

Gates said he is frustrated by the Pakistani reluctance to go after al Qaeda and Taliban elements in northwest Pakistan. The raid on bin Laden's compound has opened an opportunity to address that issue again but the Pakistanis have warned the United States that another such covert raid would not be tolerated.

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"The Pakistanis, over the last couple of weeks, have expressed the view that they are willing to go after some of these people and that we should not repeat the bin Laden operation, because they will undertake this themselves," Gates said.

The secretary and the chairman also expressed great concern about all the details on the raid that have been made public.

Gates noted an agreement had been reached in the government not to discuss "operational details" but "that lasted about 15 hours."

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"We want to retain the capability to carry out these kinds of operations in the future. And when so much detail is available, it makes that both more difficult and riskier," he told reporters.

Mullen warned the impact of all the leaks to the media is "close to jeopardizing this precious capability that we have."

His criticism was not aimed only at those inside the government who are talking to the press without authorization. In addition, he said, "we've had far too many retired members who've spoken up."

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Pakistanis doubt government claims about knowledge of bin Laden

LAHORE, Pakistan — Farhan Masood feels like many Pakistanis on the subject of Osama bin Laden: He's having a hard time believing the government's claim that it had no idea the al-Qaeda mastermind was living for years in a nice town with a large military base an hour's drive from the capital.

Pakistanis along with international and local media gather Tuesday outside Osama bin Laden's compound, where he was killed during a raid by U.S. special forces.

"Nothing can happen of any sort without the involvement of officials anywhere," said Masood, who runs SoloTech, a company involved in retinal- and facial-recognition technology. "We believe that Osama bin Laden was not killed in Pakistan. If he was killed, then where is the footage? The photos of the incident?"

The Pakistan government appeared Wednesday to issue conflicting accounts of what it knew and when it knew it, angering Pakistanis who admire bin Laden and and those who did not care for him. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, breaking his silence on the subject, said his government was in the dark as were others.

"There is an intelligence failure of the whole world, not Pakistan alone," Gilani said during a visit in Paris.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told the BBC on Wednesday that Pakistan had informed the United States as far back as in 2009 about its suspicions of the occupants in the home in Abbottabad. Bin Laden had been living at the compound for at least five years and was killed there early Monday in a raid by U.S. special forces.

"Of course they (the U.S.) have a much more sophisticated equipment to evaluate and to assess," he said as to why Pakistan did not act on its suspicions.

Many Pakistanis believe they know why.

"At the lower level, there are elements within the security establishment who have sympathies with the anti-U.S. extremist forces," said Farooq Tariq, a labor leader in Lahore.

"To say the least, this was a gross inefficiency on the part of our intelligence agencies," said Zaman Khan, a human rights activist.

The home is short walk from the elite Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul, near Abbottabad and not far from a neighborhood where many military families and retired officers live. The Pakistani who owned the compound that was Osama bin Laden's final hideaway had bought up adjoining plots of land over two years and once told a seller that the property he bought for "an uncle" had become very valuable, according to the Associated Press.

Property records obtained by the AP on Wednesday show that a man named Mohammed Arshad bought the land where bin Laden's compound was built between 2004 and 2005 and paid $48,000.

U.S. officials have identified the courier who led the Americans to in Laden as Sheik Abu Ahmed, a Pakistani born in Kuwait. They obtained his name from detainees held in secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe and vetted it with top al-Qaeda operatives such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the AP reported.

U.S. officials said the courier and his brother were killed in the commando raid on the compound early Monday.

One of bin Laden's daughters, who said she saw U.S. forces shooting her father, is in Pakistani custody, said a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy. At least 10 people, including six or seven children, and a woman, are in Pakistani custody, he said.

For many Pakistanis, it's hard to believe the three-story house with 16-foot-high outer walls ? unusual for the neighborhood ? could have remained out of sight of security agencies.

"People were skeptical in this neighborhood about this place and these guys. They used to gossip, say they were smugglers or drug dealers," said farmer Mashood Khan, 45. "People would complain that even with such a big house they didn't invite the poor or distribute charity."

The Pakistani government refuted charges that the house should have tipped it off as a possible terrorist hide-out. "It needs to be appreciated that many houses (in the northwest) have high boundary walls, in line with their culture of privacy and security," the government said. "Houses with such layout and structural details are not a rarity."

Like many towns where the army has a strong presence, the streets of Abbottabad are well-groomed. Street signs tell residents to "Love Pakistan." The city is known for its good schools, including some established by Christian missionaries. Girls wear veils while carrying Hannah Montana backpacks to school.

Many houses in the outlying areas have modern amenities but are located on streets covered with trash. Shepherds herd their flocks of sheep along dusty roads just a few hundred yards from modern banks.

"That house was obviously a suspicious one," said Jahangir Khan, who was buying a newspaper in Abbottabad. "Either it was a complete failure of our intelligence agencies or they were involved in this affair."

Still others say the failure was to permit bin Laden's death.

Thousands of people congregated at funeral prayers for bin Laden held in Karachi and Lahore. Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the outlawed Islamic organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, led the prayers and said bin Laden died a martyr to Islam.

Contributing: Aisha Chowdhry

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