JEDDAH, Sep 2 ( Arab News): Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif met with Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at his office here Tuesday and highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to send relief for Pakistan’s flood victims.

He also commended the efforts of the 57-member OIC in following up the issues of Muslims in various parts of the world.

Ihsanoglu earlier briefed the prince on his organization’s activities and future plans. He also thanked Saudi Arabia and its leadership for their generous support to Pakistan to alleviate the suffering of its flood victims.

“Saudi Arabia has won the top position in helping Pakistan confront the present crisis,” the OIC chief said, while praising both the Saudi government and people for their humanitarian gesture.

He hoped that all Muslim countries would follow the example of Saudi Arabia and its people in supporting Pakistan.

Soon after hearing the news of the devastating floods, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered a nationwide fundraiser that collected more than SR400 million.

King Abdullah also ordered that 1,000 truckloads of relief supplies be distributed among the flood victims. During the two-month-long relief program, trucks will carry foodstuffs such as rice, flour, cooking oil and milk, beans and lentils.

In the first phase, 80 trucks will go to the flood-affected areas of Punjab and Kashmir. About 8,000 families in Punjab will receive 160 tons of flour, 40 tons of rice, 40 tons of lentils, 16 tons of milk and 40,000 liters of cooking oil.

Around 12,000 families in Kashmir will get 240 tons of flour, 60 tons of rice, 24 tons of lentils, 24 tons of beans, 25 tons of milk and 60,000 liters of cooking oil.

Twenty-four truckloads of relief supplies arrived in Peshawar on Wednesday. Khaled Al-Othmani, regional director of the Kingdom’s relief program, said the supplies were distributed among 6,000 affected families.

Saudi Arabia also established two field hospitals near the flood-hit areas to provide health services. It also sent a team of Civil Defense officers to take part in search and rescue operations.

The floods are Pakistan's worst-ever natural disaster in terms of the amount of damage and the number of people affected, with more than six million people forced from their homes, about a million of them in the last few days as the water flows south.

The disaster has killed about 1,600 people, inflicted billions of dollars in damage to homes, infrastructure and the vital agriculture sector.