Pak declared visa-free state for one week

Pakistan has been declared a visa-free country for a week to facilitate foreign teams planning to join relief and rescue efforts in quake-hit areas.

"We have set up special desks for facilitating all flying into Pakistan either to join hands with us in this moment of distress or to see their families and relatives," Additional Director General, Federal Investigation Agency, Tariq Khosa said.

• Terror from the Earth

The facility is available both at Islamabad International Airport and Chakala Airbase where FIA officials have been positioned to facilitate the visitors without any hassle, he was quoted as saying by The Nation newspaper.

Under the decision taken at a high-level meeting in the interior ministry, all the visitors will be given one-week permission to stay. However, this period could be extended on request.

Over 45 special foreign flights carrying relief goods have so far arrived in the country in response to Islamabad's call for international help to the quake affected areas.

Besides material and financial assistance, many countries like the United Kingdom, China and Japan have also despatched rescue experts along with special equipment to trace out survivors from the debris.