Zardari to India: 'Pause and take a breath'

[Imran Khan]

Zardari to India: 'Pause and take a breath'Zardari: "Accusations ... only complicate the already complex situation"

Pakistan also "targets" and "victims" of terrorists, Zardari says

Mumbai attacks targeted Pakistan's new government, peace process, Zardari says

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(CNN) -- Pakistan's president Tuesday pointed to a weekend raid in Kashmir as proof of his government's commitment against terrorism, urging India to "pause and take a breath" before blaming Pakistan for the November massacre in Mumbai.


Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari addressed India in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

In a sometimes deeply personal opinion piece in The New York Times, President Asif Ali Zardari wrote that his government, which took office earlier this year, was also the target of Islamic extremists -- "and we continue to be their victims."

But Sunday's raid on a camp used by the group India blames for the Mumbai attacks shows Pakistan is willing to crack down on "non-state actors" operating on its territory, he wrote.

"We understand the domestic political considerations in India in the aftermath of Mumbai," he wrote. "Nevertheless, accusations of complicity on Pakistan's part only complicate the already complex situation."
Pakistani security forces raided a camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, on Sunday and arrested 15 people, a Pakistani security official told CNN.

It was the first sign of government action against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) -- the Islamic militant group India says was behind the killings of more than 160 people in Mumbai -- since the attacks. Watch what's known about the raid »

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"As was demonstrated in Sunday's raids, which resulted in the arrest of militants, Pakistan will take action against the non-state actors found within our territory, treating them as criminals, terrorists and murderers," Zardari wrote. "Not only are the terrorists not linked to the government of Pakistan in any way, we are their targets and we continue to be their victims."

Zardari's wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in December 2007 in the second of two attempts on her life after she returned from exile that October. The president invoked her death to express sympathy for India's victims, writing, "I feel this pain every time I look into the eyes of my children."

"The Mumbai attacks were directed not only at India, but also at Pakistan's new democratic government and the peace process with India that we have initiated," he wrote. "Supporters of authoritarianism in Pakistan and non-state actors with a vested interest in perpetuating conflict do not want change in Pakistan to take root."

Zardari wrote that militants in his country have been strengthened by the United States and its allies which empowered "the most fanatic extremists" to fight Soviet forces in Afghanistan during the Cold War.

The Pakistani president never mentioned his country's past support of LeT, which Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, helped create to fight against Indian rule in Kashmir in the 1990s.

LeT has denied any role in the Mumbai attacks, and Pakistan has rejected accusations that the government supports terrorist groups.
Under pressure from the U.S., Pakistan banned LeT after a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of war.

Citing American intelligence and counterterrorism officials, The New York Times reported on Monday that LeT continues to receive assistance from the ISI which has allowed it to "quietly gain strength in recent years."

Zardari's government -- which took power earlier this year -- has attempted to reform the ISI, including appointing a new chief in September.

A key component to Pakistan's fight against terrorism is a strong economy and government, and the world "must act" to ensure that, Zardari wrote.

Pakistani was recently approved for a $7.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help it avoid an economic collapse.

Zardari warned that the terrorist groups are "trying to provoke" a war between India and Pakistan, something that his country is committed to avoiding through diplomacy.
"In the current environment, reconciliation and rapprochement is the best revenge against the dark forces that are trying to provoke a confrontation between Pakistan and India, and ultimately a clash of civilizations," the president said

 

[RabzonKhan]

The Terrorists Want to Destroy Pakistan, Too.


December 9, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor
By ASIF ALI ZARDARI
Islamabad, Pakistan

THE recent death and destruction in Mumbai, India, brought to my mind the death and destruction in Karachi on Oct. 18, 2007, when terrorists attacked a festive homecoming rally for my wife, Benazir Bhutto. Nearly 150 Pakistanis were killed and more than 450 were injured. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai may be a news story for most of the world. For me it is a painful reality of shared experience. Having seen my wife escape death by a hairbreadth on that day in Karachi, I lost her in a second, unfortunately successful, attempt two months later.

The Mumbai attacks were directed not only at India but also at Pakistan’s new democratic government and the peace process with India that we have initiated. Supporters of authoritarianism in Pakistan and non-state actors with a vested interest in perpetuating conflict do not want change in Pakistan to take root.

To foil the designs of the terrorists, the two great nations of Pakistan and India, born together from the same revolution and mandate in 1947, must continue to move forward with the peace process. Pakistan is shocked at the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. We can identify with India’s pain. I am especially empathetic. I feel this pain every time I look into the eyes of my children.

Pakistan is committed to the pursuit, arrest, trial and punishment of anyone involved in these heinous attacks. But we caution against hasty judgments and inflammatory statements. As was demonstrated in Sunday’s raids, which resulted in the arrest of militants, Pakistan will take action against the non-state actors found within our territory, treating them as criminals, terrorists and murderers. Not only are the terrorists not linked to the government of Pakistan in any way, we are their targets and we continue to be their victims.

India is a mature nation and a stable democracy. Pakistanis appreciate India’s democratic contributions. But as rage fueled by the Mumbai attacks catches on, Indians must pause and take a breath. India and Pakistan — and the rest of the world — must work together to track down the terrorists who caused mayhem in Mumbai, attacked New York, London and Madrid in the past, and destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September. The terrorists who killed my wife are connected by ideology to these enemies of civilization.

These militants did not arise from whole cloth. Pakistan was an ally of the West throughout the cold war. The world worked to exploit religion against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan by empowering the most fanatic extremists as an instrument of destruction of a superpower. The strategy worked, but its legacy was the creation of an extremist militia with its own dynamic.

Pakistan continues to pay the price: the legacy of dictatorship, the fatigue of fanaticism, the dismemberment of civil society and the destruction of our democratic infrastructure. The resulting poverty continues to fuel the extremists and has created a culture of grievance and victimhood.

The challenge of confronting terrorists who have a vast support network is huge; Pakistan’s fledgling democracy needs help from the rest of the world. We are on the frontlines of the war on terrorism. We have 150,000 soldiers fighting Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their extremist allies along the border with Afghanistan — far more troops than NATO has in Afghanistan.

Nearly 2,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives to terrorism in this year alone, including 1,400 civilians and 600 security personnel ranging in rank from ordinary soldier to three-star general. There have been more than 600 terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan this year. The terrorists have been set back by our aggressive war against them in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Pashtun-majority areas bordering Afghanistan. Six hundred militants have been killed in recent attacks, hundreds by Pakistani F-16 jet strikes in the last two months.

Terrorism is a regional as well as a global threat, and it needs to be battled collectively. We understand the domestic political considerations in India in the aftermath of Mumbai. Nevertheless, accusations of complicity on Pakistan’s part only complicate the already complex situation.

For India, Pakistan and the United States, the best response to the Mumbai carnage is to coordinate in counteracting the scourge of terrorism. The world must act to strengthen Pakistan’s economy and democracy, help us build civil society and provide us with the law enforcement and counterterrorism capacities that will enable us to fight the terrorists effectively.

Benazir Bhutto once said that democracy is the best revenge against the abuses of dictatorship. In the current environment, reconciliation and rapprochement is the best revenge against the dark forces that are trying to provoke a confrontation between Pakistan and India, and ultimately a clash of civilizations.