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ByBinajGurubacharya The Associated Press KATHMANDU, NEPAL Ne- pal's government will need immense international support as the Himalayan nation begins turning its attention toward recon- struction in the coming weeks, in the wake of the devastating April earth- quake, a top official said Monday. Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations, and its economy, largely based on tourism, has been crippled by the earth- quake, which left more than 7,300 people dead. While there are no clear es- timates yet of how much it will cost to rebuild, it will certainly be enormously ex- pensive. "In two to three weeks a serious reconstruction package needs to be de- veloped, where we'll need enormous help from the international community," said Information Minister Minendra Rijal. "There's a huge, huge funding gap." He also said foreign res- cue workers were welcome in Nepal, saying they could remain as long as they are needed. He had earlier said that the need for their ser- vices was diminishing, but later denied that he wanted them to leave the country. Soon, he added, the na- tion will be shifting away from a rescue mode and "will be concentrating more on relief operations." Since the April 25 earth- quake, 4,050 rescue work- ers from 34 different na- tions have flown to Nepal to help in rescue opera- tions, provide emergency medical care and distrib- ute food and other necessi- ties. The still-rising death toll from the quake, Ne- pal's worst in more than 80 years, has reached 7,365, police said. The head of the World Food Program ended her visit to Nepal and the WFP so far has dispatched food for 250,000 people in some of the hardest-hit ar- eas, the spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Ste- phane Dujarric, told report- ers Monday. The agency warned that basic aid is still needed, especially for peo- ple living without shelter. Meanwhile, Buddhists turned out to visit shrines and monasteries to mark the birthday of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. At the base of the Sway- ambhunath shrine, lo- cated atop a hill overlook- ing Kathmandu, hundreds of people chanted prayers as they walked around the hill where the white iconic stupa with its gazing eyes is located. Some of the structures around the stupa, built in the 5th century, were dam- aged in the quake. Police blocked off the steep steps to the top of the shrine, also called the "Monkey Tem- ple" because of the many monkeys who live on its slopes. "I am praying for peace for the thousands of peo- ple who were killed," said Santa Lama, a 60-year-old woman. "I hope there will be peace and calm in the country once again and the worst is over." Kathmandu's main air- port remained closed since Sunday to large aircraft de- livering aid due to runaway damage, but U.N. officials said the overall logistics sit- uation was improving. The airport was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, but not the large military and cargo planes that have been flying in aid supplies, food, medicines, and rescue and humanitar- ian workers, said Birendra Shrestha, the manager of Tribhuwan International Airport. There have been reports of cracks on the runway and other problems at the only airport in Nepal capable of handling jetliners. "You've got one runway, and you've got limited han- dling facilities, and you've got the ongoing commer- cial flights," said Jamie Mc- Goldrick, the U.N. coordina- tor for Nepal. "You put on top of that massive relief items coming in, the search and rescue teams that have clogged up this airport. And I think once they put bet- ter systems in place, I think that will get better." He said the bottlenecks in aid delivery were slowly disappearing, and the Nep- alese government eased customs and other bureau- cratic hurdles on humani- tarian aid following com- plaints from the U.N. EARTHQUAKE Ne pa l sa ys w or ld s up po rt n ee de d fo r re co ns tr uc ti on WALLYSANTANA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Buddhist follower Mohana Maya Lama, 67, breaks down as she prays over a photo of her daughter who died in last week's massive earthquake at the Nedyon Unphong Thapchyo Monastery in Bidur, Nuwakot District, Nepal, on Monday. By Lee Keath and Maggie Michael The Associated Press CAIRO When al-Qaida overran the Yemeni port city of Mukalla last month, the group's commanders immediately struck a deal to share power with the ar- ea's tribesmen. No jihadi banners were raised. Al-Qa- ida even issued a statement denying rumors that it had banned music at parties or men wearing shorts. A local tribal council now administers the city. The approach was a stark contrast to al-Qaida's rival, the Islamic State group, no- torious for its savagery. And that was precisely the point. In a competition with the Islamic State group for re- cruits and prestige across the Middle East, al-Qaida has sought to distinguish itself from its rival's blood- thirstiness, taking an ap- proach that in jihadi cir- cles would be considered pragmatic. It is building alliances with local players, even old enemies, to seize new territory. Its leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, has told his followers to avoid IS-style brutalities against civilians in order to build support among local pop- ulations. The strategy has paid off, winning new gains for al- Qaida. In Yemen, it even stands to emerge as the real winner as Saudi Ara- bia leads an Arab air cam- paign targeting the terror network's rival, the Iranian- backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis who have taken over much of the country. Al-Qaida "is the future Trojan horse," warned a se- nior Yemeni military intel- ligence officer, Ali Sharif. When the war is over and leaves a security vacuum, he said, "the role of al-Qa- ida will come. ... They will fill it and take control." While the United States and the West might hope that the competition be- tween al-Qaida and the Is- lamic State group would weaken two major militant threats, each is instead ma- neuvering to benefit from the region's turmoil. The Islamic State group's gains over the past year have been sizeable. For nearly two decades, al-Qa- ida was unchallenged as the world's most prominent ter- rorist organization. But IS has stormed forward to ri- val it — and even surpass it in places. Beyond its heartland in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group has planted flags across the map. It eclipsed al-Qaida in Libya, where IS's strongest exter- nal branch controls several cities and most of al-Qa- ida's one-time allies have switched to swear fealty to it. Militants in Egypt's Si- nai Peninsula and Nige- ria's fearsome Boko Haram — all once linked to al-Qa- ida — have also pledged al- legiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Perhaps more impor- tantly, the Islamic State group has a dynamism and fervor that has seemed to fade for al-Qaida. The IS declaration of a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria inspired a stream of thousands of for- eign fighters to join it and earned it pledges of alle- giance by individual mil- itants around the region. The group's notorious bru- talities — everything from beheadings to enslavement of women from religious minorities — are seen by its supporters as proof of its purity and refusal to com- promise on what it consid- ers "God's law." That has helped the Is- lamic State group aggres- sively make inroads in ar- eas long the domains of its rivals. In Afghanistan, where the Taliban, a top al-Qaida ally, has long dominated, young militants frustrated with the lack of progress in a nearly 14-year insurgency see a winner in IS. In February, former Taliban commanders in southern Zabul province "exchanged their white Tal- iban flag for the black flag" of IS and were behind the abduction of 31 Shiites, ac- cording to Afghanistan's se- nior Shiite leader, Moham- mad Mohaqiq. Around the Middle East, prominent jihadi clerics to whom militants look for guidance have been split, lining up with one side or the other. The bitterness spills out on social media, where the two sides hurl in- sults at each other. Al-Qaida backers gloated when Iraqi troops and Shi- ite militiamen retook the Iraqi city of Tikrit from the Islamic State group last month. "After all the blood spilled over the delusion of the caliphate, have you fi- nally realized that declaring a nation and emirates only hurts Muslims and jihad?" asked one, with the Twitter handle Jabal al-Aiza. 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