March 26, 2008 Pakistan to Continue
to Fight Terror:
Gillani tells US By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani Wednesday told US
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte that Islamabad "would
continue to fight" terror but called for a broader approach to the
problem.
The visiting US official met Gillani at his official residence along
with Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher and discussed the
issue in detail. However, there was no immediate official word from
either side on the talks that continued for over an hour.
An official quoted Gillani as telling Negroponte that "Pakistan
would continue to fight terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations since it is in Pakistan's own national interest".
US President George W. Bush Tuesday night called Gillani to
congratulate him on assuming office. During the telephonic
conversation, which lasted 15 minutes, the two leaders discussed
several bilateral and international issues with a focus on the war
on terror, an official said.
Gillani also told the US officials that a comprehensive approach was
required to deal with terrorism - combining a political approach
with development programmes.
The prime minister stressed that Pakistan was "committed to
maintaining long-term close ties with the US".
The two visiting US officials Tuesday also met former prime minister
Nawaz Sharif in Lahore. Sharif later said that he told Negroponte
that a parliamentary committee would look at President Pervez
Musharraf's policies on curbing militancy. He said the new
government wanted to tackle extremism but did not want the country
to become a "murder house".
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the second largest
party in the coalition government headed by Gillani, who belongs to
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Bush has, meanwhile, used his authority to exempt Pakistan from a
law that restricts funding countries where the legitimate head of
state was deposed by a military coup, as in Pakistan, the White
House said Tuesday.
Spokesman of the Foreign Office Muhammad Sadiq Wednesday said
parliament had every right to reconsider or review Pakistan's
foreign policy as well as its stance on the war on terror.
Asked why the US officials had rushed to Pakistan the day the new
government was formed, he said: "Their (US officials) visit was
prescheduled for March to allow the transition of power to be
completed in the country."
He said Negroponte and his team have primarily discussed three
issues in their meetings with Pakistani officials - resumption of
the composite dialogue with India, future and development of
Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs), and bilateral strategic
relations and cooperation in the ongoing war against terror and in
the bordering region with Afghanistan.
He said the development of ROZs was not linked with the free
movement of US officials in the region.
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