Pak: ‘Friends’ stop violating territory

Saturday, September 27, 2008 at 4:09 am

With the incidents of cross-border raids mounting in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has emphatically stated that the country’s territory and sovereignty will not be allowed to be violated by “friends”.

“Attacks that violate our sovereignty actually serve to empower the forces against which we mutually fight,” Zardari, who is on his first visit to United States after assuming office, wrote in ‘Boston Globe’.

Depicting the war on terror as an “epic battle”, Zardari counselled that this fight must be carried out together “as allies and as partners”.

Expressing that Pakistan had reached a “critical cross-road”, the President said the current struggle against the terrorists would determine the future of the country. Zardari said his country was committed to not allowing its territory to be used by terrorists for attacks on “our people and neighbours”.

He described the fight against terrorism as “Pakistan’s war”, saying his country was its greatest victim. Seeking to assure the American public, the Pakistan President said his country’s forces were confronting the terrorist threat in tribal areas as well as in the cities.

“Soldiers are arrayed in the field against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and last month our fighter jets killed 600 enemy fighters,” he wrote in the column.

But, he made it clear that the fight against Islamic radicals like al-Qaeda and Taliban cannot be fought by “military means alone”.

Zardari said fighting terrorism also required political will, popular mobilisation and a socioeconomic strategy that wins the hearts and minds of the people.

“These people (terrorists) need to be given a concrete stake in the country’s emerging democracy and economic infrastructure,” he said.

“The battleground must be economic and social as well as military. We will win when people are mobilized against the fanatics. To mobilize them we have to give them hope and opportunity for their future. They need jobs. Their children need education. They must be fed. They must have energy,” he wrote.

“An economically viable Pakistan will be a secure Pakistan, and a secure Pakistan is the greatest asset in the world’s fight against terrorism. A stable and economically viable Pakistan will suck the oxygen from the terrorist agenda.

Economic justice and political democracy are the terrorists’ worst nightmares,” Zardari said.

Citing the sacrifices made by his slain wife Benazir, he said “Terrorism took Venazir’s life. But the terrorist cannot kill my wife’s dream”.

(Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Pak: ‘Friends’ stop violating territory

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