ID :
131413
Mon, 07/05/2010 - 11:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/131413
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Pak analyst for political solution to militancy
Islamabad, July 5, IRNA – A senior Pakistani security analyst Saleem Safi on Sunday said that the issue of terrorism can only be resolved through political means.
Speaking to IRNA he said that the strategy of the government against Taliban is counter-productive and failed to stop the activities of Taliban.
The analyst said a large section of the society has been opposing use of force against Taliban, but now the people who were supporting operation against Taliban realized that the dialogue is the only solution to stop increasing militancy in Pakistan.
“The issue of terrorism can only be solved through political means”, he added.
Referring to the statement of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif saying "if US in Afghanistan can negotiate with Taliban, our government can too" Saleem Safi said that the PML-N chief has not been supportive to the action against Taliban.
Nawaz urged the government not to “look towards” the US to decide the country’s fate and instead take the initiative in negotiating with the Taliban.
“They (the US) are holding talks with the Taliban, so Islamabad should adopt the same policy at local level,” he said.
Saleem Safi maintained, “Nawaz Sharif is always against use of force to deal with the menace of terrorism but this is the first time he spoke against the issue with an open mind”.
He said that Nawaz Sharif‘s suggestion to convene a national conference to address the root causes of terrorism and to chalk out a national policy to deal with the threat is a positive development.
Saleem Safi, however, believed that the conference should not be used as a platform for point scoring. “It should not be politically motivated”, the analyst opined.
He suggested that the political and religious parties that would be participating in the meeting should come up with a decisive strategy to deal with the threat of terrorism.
He was of the view that there is a clear difference between the stance of federal and Punjab government on terrorism but the conference should be result-oriented otherwise it would be a futile exercise.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has also agreed to the proposal of chief Nawaz Sharif.
Saleem Safi is an anchor/analyst with the Urdu news channel, Geo. His articles appear in Pakistani Urdu and English newspapers./end
Speaking to IRNA he said that the strategy of the government against Taliban is counter-productive and failed to stop the activities of Taliban.
The analyst said a large section of the society has been opposing use of force against Taliban, but now the people who were supporting operation against Taliban realized that the dialogue is the only solution to stop increasing militancy in Pakistan.
“The issue of terrorism can only be solved through political means”, he added.
Referring to the statement of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif saying "if US in Afghanistan can negotiate with Taliban, our government can too" Saleem Safi said that the PML-N chief has not been supportive to the action against Taliban.
Nawaz urged the government not to “look towards” the US to decide the country’s fate and instead take the initiative in negotiating with the Taliban.
“They (the US) are holding talks with the Taliban, so Islamabad should adopt the same policy at local level,” he said.
Saleem Safi maintained, “Nawaz Sharif is always against use of force to deal with the menace of terrorism but this is the first time he spoke against the issue with an open mind”.
He said that Nawaz Sharif‘s suggestion to convene a national conference to address the root causes of terrorism and to chalk out a national policy to deal with the threat is a positive development.
Saleem Safi, however, believed that the conference should not be used as a platform for point scoring. “It should not be politically motivated”, the analyst opined.
He suggested that the political and religious parties that would be participating in the meeting should come up with a decisive strategy to deal with the threat of terrorism.
He was of the view that there is a clear difference between the stance of federal and Punjab government on terrorism but the conference should be result-oriented otherwise it would be a futile exercise.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has also agreed to the proposal of chief Nawaz Sharif.
Saleem Safi is an anchor/analyst with the Urdu news channel, Geo. His articles appear in Pakistani Urdu and English newspapers./end
