Zardari sworn-in as Prez, promises "good news" on Kashmir soon

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Sep 9 (PTI) Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday took over as Pakistan's President and swiftly pledged to come out with "some good news" on Kashmir before this month-end.

The 53-year-old businessman-turned politician, who spent over a decade behind the bars on corruption and other charges, was administered oath of office by Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar in a ceremony at the presidential palace attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai among others.

Zardari, husband of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, said he would work together with all neighbouring countries.

"We shall stand with each other, we shall not stand in each
other's way."

He assumes charge at a time when terrorism and extremism
have touched new heights in Pakistan and the economy is in
shambles.

Apart from striving to restore political stability,
Zardari, the 12th President of Pakistan, has to meet pressures
from one-time ally Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League
(Nawaz) who parted ways with the ruling coalition last month
on the issue of reinstatement of sacked judges.

Zardari's predecessor Pervez Musharraf and Sharif were
conspicuous by their absence at the swearing-in ceremony that
saw his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the co-Chairman of the
ruling P.P.P., and daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa cheer for him
in presence of Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the two
other service chiefs.

Soon after being sworn-in, Zardari, flanked by his Afghan
counterpart, addressed a press meet during which he suggested
that there could be some forward movement soon on resolving
the Kashmir issue with India.

Zardari said the P.P.P.-led government would forge
consensus among all political forces in the country on efforts
to resolve the Kashmir issue before taking the matter to
Parliament. Back channel dialogue would also be part of these
efforts, he indicated.

"Inshallah, before the month is over, before ... the
Congress government's going into elections, we shall have some
good news," he said.

Without giving details of the steps the government
intended to take to resolve the Kashmir issue, Zardari said he
had already had a dialogue on the matter with Sharif. The
P.P.P. has also taken into confidence all the political forces
in Pakistan.

"We will very shortly make a small caucus with the
Kashmir committee which is going to be formed and we are going
to go about it on a fast lane. I am aware of the back channel
dialogue that has been going on," he said.

"In the light of that, we intend to take it to the
parliament, to the parliamentary committee on Kashmir and to
invite all the political forces which are outside the
parliament," he said, explaining how the government
would forge consensus on the issue.

Zardari succeeds Musharraf, five months after the
P.P.P.-led government took charge following the party's
victory in the February 18 general elections.

In his opening remarks, Zardari said the Pakistan
government intended to take country "and our neighbours into
the 21st century together".

"We shall stand with each other, we shall not stand in
each other's way. This is a message not just for Afghanistan
but for all the neighbouring countries in our region," he
said.

His remarks come against the backdrop of a blame-game
between Islamabad and Kabul over the rising Taliban activity
along their common border.

"Pakistan intends ... to work with you all. To the
world, we say, we shall talk in one word from today and
tomorrow," he said.

Zardari, facing an uphill task to tackle the growing
threat from Taliban and al-Qaeda, said "we know we have
problems, we have had problems in the past and we know we will
have problems in the future.

"But one thing I can assure you – we shall stand with
our neighbours, we shall stand with the people of Pakistan and
look the problems in the eye and tell the world we are bigger
than the problems are."

Thanking the people on his election, Zardari said, "I
accept the presidency of Pakistan in the name of Shaheed
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and all the martyrs of democracy."

To a question about the possibility of providing
immunity Musharraf, who resigned last month to avoid
impeachment, Zardari said the fate of the former military
ruler would be decided by Parliament.

However, Zardari skirted questions about restoring all of
the 60 judges sacked by Musharraf during last year's emergency
rule. Of them, 16 judges have been re-appointed by the P.P.P.
government.

Zardari said the President would now be subservient to
Parliament and "bow to the will of the government".

He pointed out that while there was a perception in
the past that the war on terror was not backed by the people
of Pakistan, "today's war has the backing of the people and
the President, who is a victim of terrorism".

Zardari, who was made chief of the P.P.P. after the
assassination of Bhutto in a gun-and-suicide attack in
Rawalpindi in December last year, won last week's presidential
election with an overwhelming majority.

Vowing to continue the war against terrorism, Zardari
said "no part of Pakistan – not even an inch – would be lost
to" militants.

He said he would personally take up Pakistan's request
for a U.N. probe into Bhutto's assassination as a "victim of
terrorism" when he visits the world body later this month.

Karzai parried all questions about his government's
allegations that Pakistan's I.S.I. was involved in fomenting
terrorism in Afghanistan and underscored the need for joint
efforts to fight terrorism and extremism. He said the menace
should be fought "in the right manner".

"Rather than going to villages and civilian populations,
we should concentrate on the sanctuaries, whether those
sanctuaries are in Afghanistan or in Pakistan, where
terrorists find a place to train themselves and to pick up
arms and hatred to hurt the people of Pakistan and
Afghanistan or the people of the world," Karzai said.

"We must concentrate on the right targets. The right
targets are not civilian areas ... in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
The right targets are the sanctuaries," he said, adding the
governments of both countries have a responsibility to
providing a life of prosperity and peace to their people. PTI