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Friday, August 17, 2012
World must help Pakistan on Afghan peace: Zardari* President says Pakistan seriously affected by Afghan unrest
MAKKAH: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday urged the world and particularly the heads of Muslim states and governments to join Pakistan in appealing to all the groups in Afghanistan to join reconciliation and peace process.
Addressing the fourth extraordinary Islamic summit in Makkah, Zardari said that Pakistan had been seriously affected by the unrest in Afghanistan, adding that the fallout of the mujahideen resistance to the former Soviet Union was still haunting Pakistan.
Reiterating Pakistan's support to Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process, the president said that peace and stability in Afghanistan was vital for peace and stability of Pakistan. Indeed, it is vital for peace and stability of the region and the world, he remarked.
Zardari said he remembered Afghanistan as a tourist attraction and now the world had seen what war had brought to that beautiful country. He said that through past experience Pakistan knew what war meant.
The president said, "We have been allies of the world in the war against a rival ideology and we have witnessed the introduction of heroin as a war weapon." He said that there were more than three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and expressed the hope that they would soon return to their homeland to rebuild their country.
Zardari said his “brother” Afghan President Karzai and he himself were determined that peace efforts succeed. "Afghanistan has taught us that while thinkers and philosophers talk of changing the destinies of nations, they must also have knowledge of the societies they wish to change," he said.
Commenting on other issues of major concern to the Muslim world, he said that Muslim communities in different parts of the world continued to suffer denial of human rights. He said the Kashmir issue continued to fester. Reiterating Pakistan's commitment to a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions, he expressed hope that the country’s engagement with India would be result oriented and purposeful.
Zardari said the unresolved Palestinian question was a deep wound in the heart of Middle East. He said that Pakistan fully supported creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state.
Referring to some recent developments in Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world, he said that fast-moving and far-reaching developments had been taking place in North Africa and the Middle East. "Over the past two years we have witnessed youth aspiring for change and democratic transformation," he added.
After attending the OIC summit in Makkah, the president arrived in Madina, where he offered prayers at the Masjid-e-Nabvi. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk