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| Zardari asks US to let Pak troops deal with terrorists |
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
NEW YORK: Calling the fight against terrorists as Pakistan’s war, President Asif Ali Zardari has asked the US troops to stay away and leave the Pakistani forces to do the job.
“Our orders are clear: not to allow any incursion of anybody in Pakistan. American troops are coming, without letting us know, without Pakistan’s permission, they are violating the United Nations Charter,” he said in an interview with the NBC news channel on Monday. The interview was recorded before his departure from Islamabad.
The president said Pakistan would ask any American troops crossing into its territory to leave and was confident that they would go. Pakistan, he said, had a strong commitment to fight terrorism but only its troops had the responsibility to take anti-terror actions on its soil and any foreign troops crossing into its territory would be violating the UN Charter.
The president voiced the confidence that the country would be able to defeat the menace of terrorism with the cooperation of its anti-terrorism partners. “Pakistan is capable (of fighting terrorism) with the help of the world, yes we are capable,” he said.
Zardari said the terrorists were challenging democracy in the country. “My heart goes out to the people. I want the world to understand that this is a signal from the terrorists. They are challenging this democracy of Pakistan. They are challenging the people of Pakistan. They are challenging the world,” he said while condemning the Marriott blast.
In a reiteration of undeterred resolve to fight terrorism, he said Pakistan remained united with the world in combating terrorism. “And we are there to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world, looking the terrorists in the eye. And we will fight them,” he said.
Zardari termed the fight against terrorism Pakistan’s war. “As soon as we came into the government, we redefined the whole situation by calling it our war. It is a question for me to have political strength to go to the people and tell them it is our war,” he said.
He made it clear that only the Pakistani troops had the responsibility to carry out any anti-terrorism action on the Pakistani soil and asked Washington to share intelligence with Pakistan. “We are already there, we will catch them, give us the intelligence and we will do the job,” he said, adding that it would be better done by the Pakistani forces.
Meanwhile, President Zardari arrived here on Monday to lead the Pakistani delegation at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly. He will address the UN General Assembly on September 25.
He is being accompanied by the foreign minister, finance minister, information minister, adviser to the prime minister on national security, chairman National Reconstruction Bureau and senior officials.
During his visit, the president will also hold meetings with the presidents of the United States, Afghanistan, Brazil, France, Iran, Turkey, and the prime ministers of China, India and the Republic of Korea. He will also meet the United Nations secretary-general and the World Bank president.
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