Cameroonian President Paul Biya is planning to give financial aid to Haiti following the deadly Jan. 12 earthquake, which has reportedly killed 75,000, according to Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

"The head of state, naturally in the spirit of solidarity and friendship, plans to avail to this friendly country which today is going through hardship, that which is necessary in terms of bringing support just like what other countries have done," the minister told a press conference late Friday.

"This aid is at the discretion of the head of state," he noted, without giving details.

Bakary said he had spoken to some Haitians residing in the Cameroonian capital Yaoude and that they had strong desire to see their compatriots be supplied with "doctors, medicine and something to eat."

On January 15, President Biya Biya wrote a letter of condolences to his Haitian counterpart Rene Preval to show solidarity and brotherhood in the aftermath of the devastating quake.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2010)