For Pak's peace and stability, defeat militancy: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's peace and stability are linked to the defeat of militants and terrorists in the country and Islamabad is in a dialogue with the world community on this, president Asif Ali Zardari has said.

"Pakistan had been attacked by militants and it is imperative to defeat them for peace and stability in the country," Zardari said.
    
"The whole nation is a victim of militancy and terrorism and people must join hands for fighting the menace "regardless of partisan considerations"," he said.
    
Zardari was addressing the representatives of people displaced by fighting between militants and security forces in the Bajaur tribal region here on Thursday.

He said the government is engaged in a dialogue with the world community to defeat the terrorists and economically rebuild the militancy-hit tribal areas. The president also added that his government is aware of the hardships faced by the displaced people and had drawn up plans for building "Reconstruction Opportunity Zones" in the tribal areas to speed up development and to provide employment to the youth.
     
"The government had also made plans for providing compensation to victims of terrorism," he said. 

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, who was also present at the meeting, said the government's writ had been re-established in four sub-districts of Bajaur Agency and that two more sub-districts would be under control of the authorities by the end of this month.

The representatives of the displaced people highlighted their problems and called for restoration of normalcy and peace at the earliest.