Japan to provide $10 mil. in grant aid for refugees in Pakistan+

TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo -
Japan will provide $10 million in emergency grant aid to Pakistan to support
millions of people displaced by Islamabad's anti-Taliban operations in
Pakistan's restive northwest, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Tuesday.

Japan pledged $1 billion in assistance for Pakistan over two years during a
donors conference in Tokyo on April 17 and the announcement of the grant aid is
part of that assistance, Nakasone said.
More than 3 million people have been internally displaced in Pakistan since its
army launched an operation in the Taliban stronghold in Swat in late April,
according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The grant aid, including emergency food aid, will be provided through U.N.
organizations such as the World Food Program and the U.N. refugee agency, it
said.
Meanwhile, the Japan International Cooperation Agency said 20 volunteers
working for JICA projects in Pakistan will temporary leave the country by the
end of June due to worsening security conditions.
About 10 JICA officials will remain at the agency's Islamabad office to
continue operations, the aid organization said.
==Kyodo