Non-state actors cannot hijack nations: Zardari
* President says architects of Mumbai attacks have managed to raise new threat to divert Pakistans attention from war on terror
MUMBAI: President Asif Ali Zardari asked India not to blame his country for last weeks attacks in Mumbai, saying non-state actors could not hijack nations.
Such a tragic incident must bring opportunity rather than the defeat of a nation, Zardari said in an interview with a private TV channel on Monday. We dont think the worlds great nations and countries can be held hostage by non-state actors.
Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, who do you think we are fighting? asked Zardari in an interview with the Financial Times. Now, events in Mumbai tell us that there are ongoing efforts to carry out copycat attacks by militants. We must all stand together to fight out this menace.
Zardari warned that provocation by rogue non-state actors posed the danger of a return to war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
We live in troubled times where non-state actors have taken us to war before, whether it is the case of those who perpetrated (the) 9/11 (attacks on the United States) or contributed to the escalation of the situation in Iraq, said Zardari. He renewed his earlier promise to do everything in our power to go after these militants if India was to share findings about the attack. He said India had shared no tangible evidence with Pakistan so far.
Pakistans attention: The paper said a war on two fronts would put great strain on Zardaris democratic government, which is trying to rescue the country from near bankruptcy while also resisting a terror threat.
The architects of this calamity in Mumbai have managed to raise a threat on our other (Indian) border. As we have these people on the run along our western border (with Afghanistan), our attention is being diverted at this critical time, Zardari told the Financial Times. To a question in his TV interview, he said there was complete harmony between the political and military leadership of Pakistan. He said Pakistan was in contact with the US administration more than India was. The president praised the Pakistani media for its role in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. daily times monitor/agencies