Pakistan Damages From Riots Linked To Bhutto Death Top $1 Billion-AFP
KARACHI (AFP)--Every day laborer Abdul Karim lines up in this southern city, Pakistan's economic hub, looking for work, one of thousands dealing with the economic aftermath of Benazir Bhutto's murder.
Deadly riots triggered by the assassination of the opposition leader caused more than a billion dollars in damage and left hundreds of shops, banks and businesses smoldering in ruin.
The shock of the murder hundreds of kilometers away in Rawalpindi was felt most here in the capital of the southern Sindh province, Bhutto's political heartland.
"I couldn't earn anything and passed the week with little food for my two children," said the tall 31-year-old, dressed in a dark brown shalwar kameez and yellow sweater, standing among dozens facing the same problem.
Textile trader Abdul Wahab arrived here 10 years ago, confident that his prospects were better than in his native, conflict-torn home of Sri Lanka.
The 48-year-old told AFP he "loves Pakistan," but a few hours after Bhutto's death his life's work went up in flames.
"The rioters burnt my factory with everything inside, including trucks loaded with material ready for export," said Wahab, whose small business sold cotton towels to the U.S. and Canada as well as his homeland.
"Fortunately, I had closed an hour before, and no life was lost," he said, though his 30 employees now have no work until Wahab can piece his business back together.
The violence, which claimed at least 58 lives and injured many more across the country, has since simmered down.
But the central bank warned the unrest had hit the economy so hard that it mightn't reach its 7.2% growth target for the year to June 2008.
Eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf have seen undoubted economic progress, but political instability, a state of emergency and Bhutto's assassination have rocked business confidence in recent months.
"The situation has affected the immediate shipment of textiles for export, which has visibly shaken the confidence of foreign buyers," said Khizar Dada, chairman of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.
"We suffered the same problem when Ms. Bhutto was attacked on Oct. 18 (when she was targeted during her homecoming parade from exile), and the current situation has compounded our problems. We are receiving reports from across the province which showed textiles suffered a huge blow."
The instability ahead of newly scheduled Feb. 18 elections has upset everyone, from big businesses to small traders.
Mohammad Hashim, owner of a small bakery in Karachi, said he couldn't open for five days after Bhutto's killing, because of violence and fear in the city.
"Let alone business, we the shopkeepers had to stay for many nights patrolling outside our shops to try and save them from being burned and looted," he said.
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates losses in Karachi and Sindh at about PKR80 billion ($1.3 billion).
"We have witnessed violence of the worst kind in the past," said former KCCI chairman Majyd Aziz, referring to the southern port city's reputation for sectarian killings.
"But it was the first time that rioters attacked industry," SAID Aziz, who has spent the past week assessing the damage.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-08-082054ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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