To raise four to six billion dollars:

Donors to stabilise Pakistan

JAPAN: A donors' meeting Friday aims to raise four to six billion dollars to help stabilise poverty-stricken Pakistan, seen as a frontline state in the battle against Islamic militancy.

The World Bank and Japan are co-hosting the aid conference for the cash-strapped, politically volatile and nuclear-armed South Asian country, which shares a long and porous border with war-torn Afghanistan. Washington has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda and US President Barack Obama has unveiled a sweeping new strategy to turn around the Afghan war and defeat Islamist militants on both sides of the border.

When Obama spoke of his plans for the region at the White House last month, he said Washington was ready to step up funding to "build schools and roads and hospitals and strengthen Pakistan's democracy."

The World Bank on Monday said it expected loan and grant aid pledges of four billion to six billion dollars when 27 countries and 16 organizations attend the one-day conference and a "Friends of Pakistan" meeting.

Among the delegates are Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, who arrives in Tokyo late Wednesday, and US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke.

The United States said Tuesday it planned an aid pledge but rejected Islamabad's pleas that its assistance come without conditions.

"We'll be making a pledge," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters, adding that "we want to see certain standards and goals met."

Tokyo,Wednesday, AFP