Chinese Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing Monday sent a telegram to his Pakistani counterpart
Khurshid Kasuri to offer deep sympathy and condolences to victims
in the areas stricken by rains and snow.
"I believe that under the strong leadership of the Pakistani
government, the people in the disaster-stricken areas can surely
surmount the natural disasters and rebuild their homes at an early
date," Li said.
According to local reports, the death toll caused by heavy rains
and snow in Pakistan over the past two weeks reached 400 on
Sunday.
Some 2000 people are missing in floods and avalanches, which
have also caused dam breaks.
The rains have badly affected the impoverished southwestern
Balochistan and Northwest Frontier provinces. Northern areas,
bordering China and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, have also been
affected.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2005)