ISLAMABAD, July 29: President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that all the estimated 1,400 foreign nationals studying in the country’s Madressahs would have to leave the institutions. “All foreigners are to be removed from Pakistan’s more than 10,000 religious schools,” Gen Musharraf said, adding that and no new visas would be issued to non-Pakistanis wishing to study in Madressahs.

The ban would also apply to holders of dual nationality.

“An ordinance to this effect will be adopted in the next coming days as part of new rules requiring all seminaries to register with the government by the end of the year,” the president told foreign correspondents during a two-hour interaction here.

He made it clear that Pakistan would not allow any foreigner or people holding dual nationality to run Madressahs in the country.

The president dispelled the impression that all Madressahs were involved in negative activities, saying that these institutions could be the world’s biggest NGOs helping the poorest segment of the society.

“Don’t think they are all negative, this is not the reality,” he added.

President Musharraf said it was unfortunate that in the West all Madressahs were perceived to be negative.

These religious institutions provided board and lodging to over one million children, he said and added that they also imparted religious teachings to children.

“Their pluses should be capitalized and negatives should be corrected,” he added.

The president said no banned militant organization would be allowed to resurface and work under a different name and added that those indulging in it would be tried in anti-terrorist courts.

President Musharraf vowed to continue the ongoing crackdown on extremists, in which more than 600 suspected militants and leaders of banned organizations are reported to have been rounded up.

“Till now there is no suspect arrested who is directly related to the London bombings,” Gen Musharraf said. “The investigation is going on. It’s a little premature to draw a conclusion. It’s a very tedious job.”

The president said the raids had aimed not at rounding up large numbers of people but at catching the leaders of the radical outfits.

“I don’t want to arrest the workers. I want the leaders of the banned groups. I’m not impressed by figures. We want to get all of the bigwigs.”

He said that Pakistan would carry out its crackdown on extremist elements in a realistic manner, through ‘moderation and prudence’.

“We are acting in accordance with Pakistani environment, with a lot of moderation, understanding and realism so that we do not fail,” he said.

Gen Musharraf also pledged to enforce a ban on anti-Western hate speeches made from mosques or through audio recordings.

Asked about the seriousness of the arrest campaign, Gen Musharraf said: “I have never done anything not seriously. I don’t bluff. I do act with realism. I am realistic, not idealistic. I am very, extremely serious.”

Stressing that no country could succeed against extremism until it enjoyed people’s support, the president said the government actions had the backing of moderate majority.

The president said the world must realize that it could only get rid of extremism and terrorism through a strategic long-term approach involving redress of underlying causes.

“We have to resolve the Palestinian dispute now — and regionally, the Kashmir dispute as well, I have no doubt in my mind on that — both are ripe for resolution — if we don’t do this, we will fail the region and the world,” he stated. Reiterating Islamabad’s unflinching commitment to stamping out terrorism, he said the government would continue to act against terror operatives with full force and eliminate them from Pakistani soil.

In this context, he referred to Pakistan’s success against terrorism, saying the country had achieved more in the international counter-terror campaign than any other country of the world.

“We have captured about 700 operatives and broken the horizontal and vertical linkages of Al Qaeda. They are now on the run — their communication has been dismantled and sanctuaries destroyed,” he said, praising Pakistan’s intelligence and law-enforcement organizations.

Al Qaeda, he said, had become a phenomenon and anybody carrying out attacks anywhere in the world claims to be Al Qaeda or a branch of the organization.

“While, in reality the organization cannot organize attacks elsewhere in the world from Pakistan,” he maintained.

Speaking about the importance of dealing extremism through a long-term and broad-based strategy, he said the entire Muslim world had to reject the malaise and go for the socio-economic development under his vision of enlightened moderation.

“We in Pakistan are on the right track — we have to destroy terrorists but deal with extremists differently.

“We have to bring harmony in our society and repair the national fabric of Pakistan, which was badly hurt in the wake of 26 years of unrest and turmoil in the region, beginning with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in 1979,” he said, informing newsmen about the repercussions of regional events on the Pakistani society.

At the same time, he added, the world must know that mindsets did not change through imposition but through gradual transformation.

“Nobody can impose change — societal transformation takes place gradually,” he said.—Agencies