Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani urged the United States Friday to write off its debt to help his cash-strapped nation grapple with insurgency, humanitarian crisis and global recession

Gilani made the appeal during talks in Islamabad with visiting US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said a statement from the prime minister's office.

Gilani made the request to help "overcome the present economic difficulties accentuated by the war on terror, growing crisis of IDPs (those displaced by an offensive) and the negative impact of the global recession," it said.

The prime minister also urged the US administration to increase aid substantially and fast track "much-needed military supplies for Pakistan's campaign against terrorism," the statement said.

His request came two days after Holbrooke said the US administration was seeking more than 300 million dollars in emergency relief for the two million people displaced by Pakistan's latest military offensive against theTaliban.

American lawmakers have introduced a bill that would triple US civilian aid for Pakistan to 7.5 billion dollars spread over the next five years.

Gilani "acknowledged" the US assistance but expressed hope that European and Muslim countries would follow the US lead.

Officials and analysts have said Pakistan's current fiscal year, which ends June 30, is on track to record the slowest economic growth in more than a decade, beset by the global recession and a manufacturingslump.