ISLAMABAD: In his last interaction with media personnel as interior minister, Rehman Malik admitted his government’s failure to restore peace in Karachi during its five-year tenure.

However, he tried to give the impression that no government had ever been successful in bringing peace and rule of law in the troubled metropolis.

“Our government brought peace across the country except Karachi… But no earlier government made any achievement in this regard,” Mr Malik told journalists at the National Press Club a few hours before the dissolution of the National Assembly.

He claimed that the PPP-led coalition government successfully restored peace throughout the country. “But the situation is different in Karachi as various mafias have been operating there — while banned outfits are hell bent to destroy peace,” Rehman Malik said. He, however, said that “we have been able to overcome this situation to a certain extent with limited resources.”

The minister also spoke about various efforts to negotiate with Taliban and reiterated the stance of the coalition government that Taliban on both sides of Pakistan-Afghan border had never been serious in the peace process.

“Taliban, whether in Pakistan or in Afghanistan, have the same mindset and agenda and both are fighting for the same cause,” he said. “And they have never been serious in negotiations with the government.

“There cannot be talks with any Taliban who is wanted under the law,” he said and claimed that the anti- terror strategy of the government proved successful due to which “we broke the back of terrorists.”

Praising the role of the Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies in their fight against terrorism, he said that they rendered many sacrifices to overcome this menace.