‘Lunatics will fail in their designs’
*Friday, January 18, 2008
Staff report/Agencies*
ISLAMABAD/ RAWALPINDI: President Pervez Musharraf has said that a few “misguided lunatics” are attempting to force their way of life on the majority, but vowed that such elements will not succeed, APP reported.
“There is no place for Al Qaeda in Pakistan … we cannot allow Al Qaeda to operate and commit acts of terrorism here or elsewhere,” he said on PTV’s weekly interactive programme ‘Aiwan-e-Sadr Sey’ on Thursday.
“Neither can we allow the Taliban here or any support to them. No militants can be allowed here,” he added.
Musharraf blamed internal and external elements for conspiring to destabilise the country but said the nation had the resilience to defeat them all. He said a multi-pronged strategy – comprised of military, political and socio-economic – was required to bring the country’s Tribal Areas on par with the rest of the country.
About reports and demands by certain quarters that US aid to Pakistan be made conditional, the president said so far the country had received $9.5 billion, of which $5.5 billion went towards reimbursing services provided. If no payment is made, no services will be provided, he said.
There was a one-time $1.5 billion debt retirement, he added. The remaining $3.5 billion dollars is made up of annual payments of $600 million spread over five years. The country is economically strong enough to manage without the annual $600 million, he said.
Counter-propaganda: Elsewhere, the president directed authorities to draw up a strategy to counter the negative media campaign being waged against Pakistan in the US and other Western countries. In a meeting, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Mehmud Ali Durrani briefed Musharraf on the anti-Pakistan media reports in the US and other Western countries, government sources told Daily Times.
Durrani told Musharraf that the anti-Pakistan propaganda was due to the US presidential elections and other “domestic compulsions”. Musharraf asked Durrani to plan an effective lobbying to improve Pakistan’s image in the US, sources said. The country’s contribution in the war on terror had not received proper coverage in the West, he added.