Pakistan needed "generous assistance" both in cash and kind, Musharraf said ahead of Saturday's conference, expected to be attended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the heads of major financial institutions and aid agencies.

"We will welcome assistance in kind such as sponsorship of houses, schools, hospitals or even villages," he told Islamabad-based diplomats at his official residence, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Financial contributions would however be preferable as they would "help us build housing and infrastructure on equal basis for all," he said.

Saturday's conference is intended to muster sustained international support for the massive reconstruction needed after the quake, which killed nearly 74,000 people and left more than three million without homes.

Musharraf said Pakistan was working with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations to calculate the cost of reconstruction.

Officials estimate it will take more than five billion dollars and five to 10 years to restore the shattered infrastructure in the devastated areas.

Musharraf said one of the major tasks would be rebuilding roads and bridges destroyed in the quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.

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