For U.S., Pakistan floods are about national security

GHAZI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Before they are picked up by U.S. rescue helicopters, flood survivors in Pakistan's Swat valley are checked for weapons and explosives -- twice.

For the United States, which is providing naval helicopters to help villagers, the relief operation in the northwestern valley is tinged with concerns about Islamist militancy.

Rising anger by survivors has fueled fears that militants, who held sway in the valley two years ago, are seeking to exploit the humanitarian crisis to regain influence.

"So far, it's been very safe," said Sergeant Keith Flick, one of the U.S. helicopter crew helping the Pakistan military.

For the United States, the strategy for battling the Taliban in Afghanistan depends on the support of neighboring Pakistan, and smuggling explosives onto helicopters is only one fear.

This is partly why the United States plans to earmark $200 million from the a $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan over five years to be redirected to the relief effort.

Pakistan's worst floods have left four million people homeless across the country and eight million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

On a day trip on Thursday to flood-hit areas, U.S. Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, emphasized the United States was focused on humanitarian needs. But he also emphasized geo-political issues.

"Obviously there is a national security interest," Kerry told reporters at Ghazi air base. "We do not want additional jihadis, extremists, coming out of the crisis."

The United States has given billions of dollars since 2001 to battle militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, making Pakistan the frontline country in the battle against militancy.

The floods have come at the wrong time, after the military made gains against the Taliban through a series of offensives, and political tensions had appeared to ease.

Pakistan's unpopular civilian government now faces the prospect of possible food riots and social unrest.

Floods could knock at least one percentage point off Pakistan's gross domestic product growth after floods ruined many crops, hammering the mainstay farming industry.

VILLAGES UNDER WATER

Kerry was escorted on the trip by President Asif Ali Zardari, widely criticized for staying on a Europe tour at the start of the crisis.

Flying by helicopter from the southern town of Multan, Kerry crossed the flood plains of Punjab province.

In this area alone, some 30,000 square km of land have been inundated, 2.2 million acres of crops destroyed, with 1,391 villages under water. Muddy water, dotted with tiny islands of farms, lay unending.

A power station was under water. Its employees' cars, gleaming in the sun, lay parked on small islands of grass.

Kerry visited a small relief camp in Jampur near Multan, holding about 1,100 people where the military -- Pakistan's most powerful institution -- appeared to run operations.

Zardari took Kerry to the edge of the camp. Some survivors shouted "Long Live Zardari." But others were angry, demanding more supplies.

"They are naturally angry," Hassan Iqbal, local commissioner for the area, started to explain to Kerry but was rapidly shot down by Zardari nearby with a comment and a steely glare.

(Editing Michael Georgy and Maria Golovnina)