International   

Heroes until 9/11: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: “The terrorists of today were the heroes of yesteryear until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well,” Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday night.

According to a report of the meeting a group of retired federal secretaries and senior bureaucrats had with the President, by the State-run Associated Press of Pakistan, Mr. Zardari said: “Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the State not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralised but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives.”

He made the statement apparently in response to an observation that the weakness of civil bureaucracy had resulted in the emergence of militants and militancy.

While such a bold admission by a civilian leader in Pakistan is usually fraught with the risk of antagonising the all-powerful military, Mr. Zardari appears to have made the remarks with great political confidence.

One reason could be the civilian leadership’s conviction that the security establishment is now fully on board in the fight against militancy and extremism.

Three meetings in quick succession by Pakistan’s “troika” – President, Prime Minister and the Army Chief – within seven days have also fostered the belief of far greater coordination between all “stakeholders” on this grave national issue.

That belief was also apparent in remarks by Mr. Zardari to The Daily Telegraph last week that groups once regarded as “strategic assets” no longer had any backing in Pakistan.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Heroes until 9/11: Zardari
Yudhoyono ahead in quick count
Doctors admit to spreading wrong information
Traffic curfew lifted in Urumqi
Drone strikes kill 28
MI5 accused of bribing militant
Nigerian military recovers vessel
Indian pleads not guilty
Fiji roadmap

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu