Pakistanis desperate to escape flood areas

Pakistanis desperate to get out of flooded villages threw themselves at helicopters on Saturday as more heavy rain was expected to intensify both suffering and anger with the government.

President Asif Ali Zardari may have made the biggest political mistake of his career by leaving for Paris and London during the worst floods in 80 years. 

More than 1,600 people have been killed and 12 million affected. Pakistan's agriculture-based economy, heavily dependent on foreign aid, has suffered a major blow. 

Heavy rains are expected to lash the country in the next day, especially flood-affected areas, raising the prospect that more houses and crops will be swept away.       

In the town of Muzaffargarh, near where rivers bloated with rain from as far away as Afghanistan and India merge with the Indus to flow south to the sea, army helicopters dropped packets of rice to people who had moved to higher ground to a cemetery.

Some latched on to helicopter skids as the aircraft took off. One elderly man fought his way inside one of them. He looked down and wept. 

Districts in southern Sindh province were on high alert on Saturday as the water surged down the Indus river basin.                                           

The floods have roared down from the north to the agricultural heartland of Punjab to Sindh along a trail more than 1,000 km (620 miles) long. Considerable damage was expected in mainly rural areas in Sindh.

At least four districts in Sindh were on high alert, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UN officials said more than half a million people had been evacuated in Sindh, where those in low-lying areas near the Indus are most vulnerable. 

Flooding was also taking a toll over the border in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where rain was hampering rescue and relief efforts. Flash floods have killed at least 113 people in the Himalayan region of Ladakh.                                                                                    

Zardari rejected harsh criticism over his decision to leave, telling the BBC that prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was dealing with the crisis and keeping him posted on developments.

On Saturday, the president was to address Britain's Pakistani community after talks with prime minister David Cameron in which the two leaders agreed to do more to fight Islamist militancy.                            

No army takeover expected                                       

Many Pakistanis were already critical of Zardari's leadership of a country where militants still pose a security threat despite offensives, poverty is widespread and corruption is rampant.

Although Zardari this year handed most of his powers to Gilani, he still wields influence, and his departure to Europe as parts of the country were submerged eroded more faith in the government.   

The military, with which Zardari has had differences, has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history. It has spearheaded relief efforts, reinforcing the view that civilian governments cannot handle major crises.

But analysts do not expect the army to make a grab for power. 

It would rather play a behind the scenes role while the government takes the heat for the country''s failures. The military also remains too preoccupied with Taliban insurgents to orchestrate a takeover.   

Key ally Washington would not want to see an unstable Pakistan as it leans on the country to help its campaign against Taliban militants in neighbouring Afghanistan.                                          

Gilani, addressing the nation on Friday for the first time since the floods struck, described the loss of human life and infrastructure as "colossal" and appealed for international aid.

Food supplies are becoming a serious issue. In many areas, drinking water wells are also full of mud.                                           

"Our houses have been fully submerged. I kept putting my kid's toys in higher places in my house to protect them from water," said Rana Abdul Razzak, an engineer at a power station where about 100 flood victims had taken refuge on a roof.

"But I lost everything. I cannot tell you how bad it was to see those toys floating in the water."