Donors pledge over $5 billion in aid to Pakistan

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — Donors pledged more than $5 billion in aid to Pakistan Friday, Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.
The pledges came at a conference of international donors focused on helping bolster Pakistan’s economy and enabling the country to fight terror and Islamic radicalism.
Japan and the World Bank co-hosted the 2009 Pakistan Donors Conference, with representatives of 31 countries and 18 international organizations and agencies.
“The international community is facing profound economic challenges,” Hirofumi Nakasone, Japan’s foreign affairs minister, said at the opening session of the donors conference. “At the same time it must tackle the acute problem of terrorism, which is occurring all around the world and threatens people’s peaceful lifestyles and their happiness.
“Pakistan plays an extremely important role in the efforts to eradicate terrorism undertaken by the international community, and its stability is directly tied to the stability and peace of the surrounding region including Afghanistan, and consequently to the stability and peace of the international community