NEW YORK: Stating that Pakistan had been in denial about the Taliban in the past, President Asif Ali Zardari has said his government was determined to put an end to the growing threat of the militants.
“(The Taliban) do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side. Yes, that is the fact,” Zardari told CBS in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, excerpts of which were released on Friday.
“It’s been happening over time and it’s happened out of denial. Everybody was in denial,” he said on the networks’ programme “60 Minutes”.
The president said many thought that “they’re weak and they won’t be able to take over … they won’t be able to give us a challenge”.
CBS correspondent Steve Kroft, who interviewed the president, said, “Zardari is determined to prevail; it’s more than his duty, it’s personal.”
Zardari told correspondent Kroft, “I lost my wife to it. My children’s mother … Its important to stop them and make sure that it doesn’t happen again and they do not take over our way of life. That’s what they want to do.” At this stage, the correspondent remarked, “Much of the world has a stake in Zardari’s struggle as well.”
The president said, “We’re not doing anybody a favour … We are aware of the fact it’s … Taliban… trying to take over the state of Pakistan. “So, we’re fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We’re not fighting for the survival of anybody else.”
Zardari expressed his full confidence in the country’s army and intelligence agencies and praised their role in countering Taliban and restricting their sphere of activity.
“If that wasn’t the case, then Islamabad would have fallen because obviously if the Army doesn’t do its job, these men are not restricted. They’ve blown up the Marriott Hotel before. They’ve attacked us inland before. They would be all around us, wouldn’t they?” he said.
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