ISLAMABAD, June 27: The political and military leadership of the country on Friday put militants on notice that the security challenge they posed would be met with a firm hand.
President Pervez Musharraf, during a meeting with Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, called for combating terrorism and extremism with “full force and all available resources”.
And Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a statement that he had directed the civilian administration in the NWFP to catch the “misguided miscreants” responsible for the destruction of girls’ schools.
According to a spokesman for President Musharraf, Gen Kayani briefed him on the security situation along the Afghan border and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The army chief briefed the president about the role of the army in combating terrorism and extremism in Fata.
The president stressed the need for adopting a multi-pronged approach to wean people away from extremism. He told the army chief to confront terrorists with full force and all available resources.
He said the army had achieved great successes in eradication of terrorism.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of recent incidents of violence in Swat and other areas of the NWFP. It was the first meeting between the president and the army chief after recent border clashes and attacks in tribal areas by Nato forces from Afghanistan.
WOMEN’S EDUCATION: Prime Minister Gilani condemned the destruction of several girls’ schools by “misguided elements in the name of Islam” and vowed to rebuild them to allow education of women to flourish.
“I pledge to the people of Pakistan, especially our women, that my government will redouble its efforts to banish illiteracy among women and empower them through education,” he said.
The prime minister said he had directed the civil administration to catch the misguided miscreants who were responsible for the destruction of schools so that they might face the full force of the law.
“No one is above the law.”
He said he was determined not to allow the “return of our moderate and tolerant society back into the pre-Islamic days”.
The prime minister said he had directed the education ministry to launch, in consultation with the religious affairs ministry, a campaign to educate the masses about religious injunctions on the importance of women’s education.
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