Pakistani traders relieved at port strike end

KARACHI Aug 27 (Reuters) - A week-long strike by lorry drivers at Pakistan's main port has ended after some confusion earlier on whether a settlement was taking effect, drivers representatives and goods traders said on Wednesday.

Traders had earlier estimated millions of dollars of perishable goods were stranded due to the strike.

Truck drivers were protesting high diesel prices, and lack of enough security on highways against increasing incidents of looting.

"Finally the goods have moved. And the port operation is also working fine," Salman Paracha, a rice trader, told Reuters.

Representatives of the drivers' associations said they were ending the strike on the government's assurance their demands will be met soon.

"They have told us that a committee will soon contact us and resolve our issues" Chaudhry Nadeem, an official of the Karachi Goods Carriers' Association, told Reuters.

On Tuesday lorry driver representatives had said the strike was over but traders had said their goods were still not being moved.

The government has been cutting subsidies on fuel as it struggles with widening budget deficits and inflation at a 30-year high. (Reporting by Aftab Borka; Editing by Jerry Norton)