A two-page handwritten letter from Obama to his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari

Jones is learnt to have told the Pakistani leadership that 'if Pakistan cannot deliver, the US may be impelled to use any means at its disposal to rout insurgents based along Pakistan's western and southern borders with Afghanistan'.

Defeat the forces preaching extremism and violence in the name of religion

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called on the people to defeat the forces preaching extremism and violence in the name of religion, saying this trend poses the greatest threat to the security and stability of the country.

"The mindset that increasingly preaches extremism, violence and militancy in the name of religion, and which has been on the rise in the country, is a direct negation of the values for which this country was created," Mr. Zardari said in his message on the eve of Pakistan's Independence Day.

"It is a mindset that poses the greatest threat to the security and stability of the country that was founded on this day... Let us therefore resolve to defeat this pernicious mindset that has promoted suicide bombings, beheading innocent people, torturing women and forcibly closing academies of learning," he said.

Mr. Zardari cited the recent burning of houses and acts of vandalism against the minority Christian community at Gojra in Punjab province as "a manifestation of this mindset". Eight Christians were killed in the recent sectarian violence, sparking protests across the country.

Zardari admits terrorism nurtured by govt for tactical use

In an astonishingly candid admission - a first by any Pakistani head of state - president Asif Ali Zardari has admitted militants and terrorists were wilfully created by past Pakistani governments and nurtured as a policy to achieve tactical objectives.

``Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralized but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve short-term tactical objectives. Let's be truthful and make a candid admission of the reality,'' he said at a gathering of civil servants in Islamabad on Tuesday night.

``The terrorists of today were heroes of yesteryear until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well,'' Zardari said, emphasising that Pakistan can't be left alone at this stage of the war on terror. He also pointedly said that the future generations won't forgive the current leadership if it does not take corrective measures.

India has long charged Pakistan with sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir by providing arms, ammunition and training to the militants who have been engaged in a war of secession.

``Pakistan is a frontline state in the war against terror and we have pledged to eliminate this scourge. I have taken charge of the country at a difficult time and will meet the challenges facing the country,'' he said.

``The heroin mafia, which arose as a consequence of the efforts to implode the Soviet Union, now takes in $5 billion a year, twice the budget of our Army and police. This is the price Pakistan continues to pay,'' wrote Zardari in the article, `The Frontier Against Terrorism'.

Zardari asks people to join hands against militancy, extremism

The President said militants and extremists wanted to destroy the country and the way of life of the people in the name of religion.

"They are blowing up schools, butchering innocent people, killing doctors for administering polio drops, closing down businesses and digging out the dead and the buried from their graves to impose upon us their bigoted world view," he said.

He hoped the country will be able to celebrate her next birth anniversary in a "changed environment where terrorism and extremism would have been eliminated".

PM, Zardari to meet tomorrow-------terrorism is the core issue

Dialogue is the only solution to the Kashmir problem

"Pakistan should show more action on Mumbai terror attack before the dialogue process starts. Pakistan Prime Minister has been saying for long time that Kashmir is a core issue and he will continue saying this in future as well," Mr Abdullah, president of National Conference told reporters.

However, he said he firmly believed that dialogue was the only solution to the Kashmir problem and was hopeful that the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will visit Moscow soon.

Violence no solution to 'political problems': Zardari

He urged India to avoid imposing any conditions for resuming the composite dialogue, pointing out that Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism and had condemned terrorist attacks in India.

'Pak determined to pursue drive against Taliban to finish'

'Pak determined to pursue drive against Taliban to finish'

The war against militancy is a "total war and each and every section of society must rise to the occasion to defeat the mindset that creates and nurtures militancy", Zardari said. The nation cannot afford to lose the war for the sake of its own survival, he added.

He was quoted by presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar as saying that "the day was not far when militants would be so crippled that they will pose no threat to the people and the country".

Give up obsession with India, Obama to tell Zardari

Taliban pose a danger to US, Pak, India: Zardari-Pakistan-World-The Times of India

Taliban pose a danger to US, Pak, India: Zardari-Pakistan-World-The Times of India
WASHINGTON: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has acknowledged that Taliban, with whom his government reached a truce deal in the restive Swat
valley days ago, are "murderous thugs and militants" who "pose a danger to Pakistan, the US and India".