News
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Pakistan needs aid for development of tribal areas: Gilani* Prime minister says government committed to protecting minorities
* Terrorists want to spark sectarian conflict in country
* Government looking for long-term partnership with Europe
* Says militants may be present in Sindh, Punjab, but they do not control these areasISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has urged the international community to provide aid to Pakistan to launch a social and economic programme in the tribal areas that have recently been cleared of militants.
In an interview to a Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the PM stressed the need for social and economic development in FATA after the successful completion of military operations in the areas.
To a question, he said the security forces now control the strongholds of insurgents in South Waziristan, Orakzai, Malakand and Swat.
The militants are in retreat, looking for places to establish themselves, territories where they could demoralise the Pakistani security forces, he said.
He pointed out the terrorists are reacting by attacking soft targets like the civil population, but the government is certainly not losing control of the territory.
“We can find them for example in Sindh or Punjab. But that doesn’t mean that they control Punjab,” he said.
He said the government has already assessed the damage done to schools, bridges and public buildings by militants, and needs funds to reconstruct the infrastructure.
This is vital for winning the hearts and minds of the people, the PM said.
“We are looking beyond terrorism. We are going for a long-term relationship with Europe. For the tribal zones, where we are militarily involved, we don’t only need Europe, but the whole world,” he said.
The prime minister said that the present operations were also weighing on the economy and “we need an exit strategy: the military is not a solution”.
“The army shouldn’t stay longer than necessary in these zones -unless to install the authority,” he said.
Lahore attack reaction: To a question about the attack in Lahore on the Ahmedi community, the prime minister said that Pakistan People’s Party is fully committed to protecting the minorities.
“For the first time we have appointed a minister from a minority - a Christian - who is in charge of minorities. After the attack took place, I sent him together with the interior minister to Lahore,” he added.
He said the government had fully condemned the attacks. “The terrorists have no religion, no frontiers, their only agenda is to destabilise the country and that is why they want to provoke sectarian violence,” he said.
PM Gilani said the attacks did not have a religious significance as the terrorists want to use sectarian conflicts as an instrument. “Besides, we are tackling the laws that are discriminatory against minorities,” he added.
To a question about the ongoing power crisis, the prime minister said the government is doing all it can to deal with the issue.
“In 1994 Benazir Bhutto had introduced a programme of independent power producers (IPPs) that were strongly criticised by the opposition,” he said. “But without these IPPs, the situation would be even more serious. Yes, we have problems of energy supply caused by a bad planning, inherited from the previous regime,” he said.
The prime minister stressed that in order to have new power projects, the government needs a time of three years.
“In the medium-term we have planned at five years and the long term at more than twenty years. We have explored everything: coal, water, thermal, solar, nuclear energy and windmills. It will take time. But we don’t have a deficit of more than 2,000 mega watts,” he said. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk