Huma Aamir Malik, Arab News
| He sez the same thing every month or 45 days. But I shouldn't bitch. The recent efforts have been a lot better than they were just a year or two ago. |
Emphasizing the need to root out terrorism, extremism and sectarianism, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pledged yesterday to continue anti-terror operations. He also asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take a more "proactive role" in thrashing out a consensus in India on the Kashmir dispute. Though his comments on the Indian leader was made to an India newspaper, Musharraf was categorical in his statement at the National Security Council saying, "The campaign to root out terrorism and extremism is very important to bring about a societal change." The NSC meeting was boycotted by Maulana Fazalur Rehman, the opposition leader in Pakistan's National Assembly.
| Only to be expected. Fazl's got an interest in keeping the kettle boiling and the pot stirred. |
Musharraf made it clear that the ongoing anti-terror operation in tribal region of South Waziristan and elsewhere in the country was directed against foreign terrorists and their accomplices. Recalling achievements of the security agencies in tracking down some most wanted terrorists, he said serious efforts had been made to eliminate terrorist threats. Besides hunting down a number of terrorists with links to Al-Qaeda terror network in last one year, Pakistani security forces restricted terrorist movement in the tribal region of South Waziristan, where 246 people including 100 militants were killed in last eight months. |