Holistic strategy being applied in tribal area: Durrani

WASHINGTON—Pakistan’s ambassador to theUnited States Mahmud Ali Durrani has said the country is strongly combating terrorism threat in its tribal region bordering Afghanistan, stating that the militants are now under growing pressure.
“The militants are under pressure as there has been a firm action —- according to my information there has been no agreement of any kind,” Durrani told Washington-based Pakistani newsmen.
The ambassador said the country’s long-term holistic strategy will have military, economic and political components to deal with the problem of extremism comprehensively. In this respect, he referred to more than $ two billion FATA sustainable development plan to which the US also has committed assistance over a period of five years. Citing recent effective actions in Swat, he said the people of the area supported the military in counterterrorism efforts to clear the area of militants. The envoy also reported relative stability in North and South Waziristan tribal agencies in the wake of recent successful operations. Asked to assess the success of the country’s counterterrorism approach in terms of its being effective over the long haul, the ambassador pointed out that the situation remains dynamic at the moment and referring to external factors observed Pakistan also suffers from blowback effect from both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ambassador Durrani voiced satisfaction with the overall state of Pakistan-US relationship in various fields.
“I think our relationship with the administration isokay, we have no problems,” he stated. In answer to a question he said there may have been occasional minor disagreements but declared that by and large the two governments have had a “stable relationship.” The two allies, he said, are working to improve theircounterterrorism cooperation. In this context, he welcomed former US CENTCOM chief Gen Anthony Zinni’sstatement in which he argued strongly for US supporting Pakistani military with equipment and technical help in combating terrorism effectively along rugged Afghan border.
On addressing perceptions in Congress and the US media, he said, the embassy has been endeavoring to project Pakistan’s position on various issues to the American lawmakers and also interacting with the media. He held out the government’s pledge to fair and transparent poll in February 18 parliamentary elections and stressed that a series of measures put in place by the Election Commission make it very difficulty for anybody to employ rigging or any other foul practices.—APP