Washington, March 4
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has stated that failure was an option in the nation’s fight against terrorism.

“This is an existential battle. If we lose, so too will the world. Failure is not an option,” Zardari said in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, a day after Pakistan was rocked by a brazen terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers, the first in the history of cricket. “Tuesday’s terrorist attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore shows once again the evil we are confronting,” the President said.

Touching on the issue of growing militancy in his nation, Zardari said, “We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and (other) terrorists”.

Defending the recent truce reached in the “highly volatile” Swat, Zardari said, “The clerics with whom we have engaged are not Taliban... and it is their responsibility to rein in and neutralise Taliban and other insurgents”.

Zardari warned that if the truce did not work out and the Taliban militants did not lay down their arms, the security forces will act accordingly.

“In Swat, our strategy has been to enter into talks with traditional local clerics to help restore peace to the area, and return the writ of the state,” he wrote.

Zardari also said his government would not condone the closure of girls’ schools in Swat valley, insisting that education of women was “mandatory”.

Reflecting on the recent trilateral meeting between the US leaders, ministers and top officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said this was a crucial step forward in the war on terror and fanaticism in South and Central Asia.

The President disclosed that this was for the first time that Washington, Kabul and Islamabad had agreed on a coherent military and political strategy to isolate the terrorists.

Zardari said Islamabad had made it known to Washington that “if we are to prevail on the ongoing battle against terrorism then straight talk is essential”.

“And this straight talk begin with a fact: Pakistan’s fight against terrorism is relentless,” he said, but lashed out that the process of “weaning reconcilable elements of insurgency away from hardliners had been mischaracterised in the West”. — PTI

Emotional scenes greeted the Sri Lankan cricket team when they arrived at the Colombo International Airport early Wednesday, hours after the terrorist attack on them in the Pakistan city of Lahore.

Anxious parents, wives, children and friends of the cricket team members gathered at the airport to greet them as they arrived home on a specially chartered aircraft.

The players seemed relieved to be back after the harrowing experience. Captain of the team Mahela Jayawardena, who spoke to reporters at the airport, said the team members were lucky to be alive. “If the driver of our bus had not acted promptly, none of us would have made it out alive,” a solemn Jayewardene said.

The injured players were taken by ambulance to a private hospital in the city and doctors here said they were recovering fast.

Meanwhile, the government came under fire from the opposition legislators in Parliament on Wednesday for sending the Sri Lanka team to Pakistan without a proper assessment of the security situation there.

“The cricketers were made scapegoats because the Sri Lanka Cricket Board needs money and so they sent the team to Pakistan,” opposition lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekera told Parliament.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka said Sri Lanka and Pakistan always had friendly relations and the situation needed to be handled carefully. The government also accused the opposition of using the unfortunate incident to slam the government for political reasons.

Washington, March 4
US Vice-President Joe Biden is travelling to Brussels next week to meet his NATO allies for holding consultation with them on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the White House announced today.

A White House statement in this regard was issued after the terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. However, it is unclear if both could be linked.

“The purpose of his trip is to consult with allies on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to ensure that their views help inform the strategic review ordered by President (Barack) Obama,” the statement said.“The Vice President also will meet with NATO’s Secretary General, with senior leaders of the European Union and with officials of the Belgian government,” it said.Earlier, Obama expressed concern over the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricket team members in Lahore.

“We’re deeply concerned,” Obama told reporters at joint media availability with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

“Both Great Britain and the United States share a deep interest in ensuring that neither Afghanistan, nor Pakistan are safe havens for terrorist activity,” Obama said.

Referring to his policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said: “I will be making a series of announcements prior to the NATO summit that immediately follows the G20 summit, in terms of the direction that the United States would like to go.” — PTI

The arrested ‘ringleader’ of the bloody Bangladesh mutiny which left over 50 army officers killed, has told investigators that the rebel Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawans had received ‘outside’ help.

BDR deputy assistant director, Towhid Alam, along with four other prime accused, was arrested on Tuesday after an exhaustive search of the slums surrounding the mutiny site. Towhid led the 14-man team that represented the rebel jawans in negotiations with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the revolt. The accused were sent to five-day police custody on Wednesday.

While the army has launched Operation Rebel Hunt to look for specific suspects, the police and Rapid Action Battalion have arrested around 400 suspected rebels with arms and looted jewellery.

Nearly 10,000 BDR jawans, who fled from the site of the carnage after the mutiny ended, have reported back to BDR headquarters.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Parliament on Wednesday that the revolt was a part of a broader plot to destablise Bangladesh.

“Conspiracies against Bangladesh are not over yet. There is still a plot to foil the country's democracy, independence and sovereignty,” she said, adding that quick resolution to the mutiny could disturb conspirators who won’t hesitate from launching another attack.

She also said her life was at risk. The PM has requested the US, Britain and United Nations to provide technical assistance 
into the probe.

Ignoring the commitment of the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the party’s People’s Liberation of Army (PLA) commander Nanda Kishwor Pun on Tuesday said the PLA would continue fresh recruitment process.

In a clear violation of the past pacts and understanding, including Comprehensive Peace Agreements (CPA), the former rebels’ commander Pun from the ruling Maoists on Monday had announced to start the recruitment of new personnel from today, intending to opt confrontation path.

Talking to journalists on Tuesday, Pun said the PLA would not accept unfair directives even if they come from the party. “The Prime Minister must stop recruitment in the Nepal army if he wants the PLA to stop its recruitment,” he added.