Durrani says collective national effort needed to curb terrorism
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—Minister of Information and Broadcasting Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani Wednesday said the people are feeling insecure due to recurring suicide attacks and emphasized that the entire political leadership and the civil society should assist the government in curbing terrorism.
Talking to newsman the Minister said terrorism is a big challenge for the government and the nation and its linkages are internal as well as external.
He said suicide attacks have made terrorism more complex but added that committed nations face such challenges with courage and fortitude.
The situation demands further improvement of intelligence on the one hand a national consensus on the other, the Minister said. To a question the Minister said that the incidents of Rawalpindi have resemblance with the recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad. He underlined the need to further enhance coordination between all the institutions of the state to effectively deal with the menace of terrorism.
The Minister said that in 70s and 80s the country faced the threats of terrorism as a backlash of its support to Afghans against Soviet occupation Afghanistan and presently it is facing the backlash of its support to global anti-terrorism campaign.
He said President General Pervez Musharraf has stressed time andagain at various forums that the root causes of terrorism needed to beaddressed to make the campaign a success.
The Minister felt the need for a national level debate to discourage the tendencies of extremism among youngsters. He said the media should promote anti-terrorism feeling in society. Speaking about Nawaz Sharif, he said the government would evolve astrategy if the Sharif brothers do come back.
He referred to statement by the Saudi government advising Nawaz Sharif to abide by his commitments and said now it was a matter between the Saudi authorities and the Sharif brothers. To a question the Minister said the outcome of dialogue with PPPPwould be made public when it reaches a decisive stage.