 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
US can help Pakistan defeat extremism: Ambassador Haqqani
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani has urged continued US support and understanding to help Pakistan become a bulwark against extremism, arguing that assistance for the people of the vital South Asian country would be investment in American security, APP reports. ‘Pakistan is going through a transformation, mobilizing the public opinion against the jihadis who had dominated Pakistan’s discourse since the war against the Soviets since 1979,’ he told Dannis Wholey in public affairs program ‘This is America’, aired Saturday. ‘There is more room for greater investment from private sector, from non-governmental organizations. Building up Pakistan and its people will be a better way of protecting the world against terrorism than having to wage an endless war against terrorists,’ he noted. Haqqani said the Pakistani nation, its government and armed forces are committed to ousting terrorists from their soil. But, speaking on a broader plane, he premised that simply killing the terrorists would not wipe out terrorists as they will keep multiplying because of grievances in the Muslim world. Pakistan, he pointed out, is one of the most diverse Islamic countries and is a great country to build a pluralist democracy. ‘On the other hand, if we (Pakistanis) become a model of prosperity, democracy, pluralism, we have religious tolerance under our democratic constitution, then our society will become the model and that will be ideological answer to terrorism.’ ‘So, I think the money the (US) Congress is investing in Pakistan is not just a handout, it is investment in the future of the country that is vital to international security and to the US national security.’ The ambassador spoke as the US Congress approved fresh $1.4 billion for Pakistan in economic and security assistance as part of this weeks spending legislation for Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He said the democratic government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, has been making it clear to the people that the country is fighting its own war against militants and not at the behest of any foreign influence. ‘We are fighting the terrorists because they threaten our own people. We have lost our most popular leader Benazir Bhutto to terrorists. We have lost several hundred civilians only in the last few years to terrorism. The terrorists do not respect the Pakistani military. And so the Pakistani people are now mobilized.’ The ambassador said Swat’s displaced people, who left their homes in the wake of military offensive against the Taliban, deserve generous international backing. ‘The people of Swat did not move out of their homes because they were under attack because they wanted to prevent becoming a human shield for the Taliban so that the military could fight the Taliban more effectively. And that is why 85 per cent of the Swat valley has been cleared of the Taliban.’ The Pakistani military will stay in Swat and the internally displaced persons will go back to their homes, he said. ‘The key is if the world can support the people of Pakistan and say we support your military in fighting terrorism and we also support you in your moment of suffering.’ ‘The United States at this state can continue to support the people of Pakistan and invest in them, make the people of Pakistan feel that Americans care, if they feel the Americans care then the hate of the United States will diminish and bin Laden will lose the argument and the war.’
June 21, 2009
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
