Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has called for a collective global effort to tackle the threat of terrorism.
Addressing a conference on “Global Fight Against Terrorism” in Tehran, Zardari said law enforcement measures temporarily contain terror but long term solutions must address political, economic and social aspects.
“The way to permanently defeat militancy is to remove the fear and instability on which it thrives,” the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Zardari as saying.
He said the method to defeat terrorism was to provide jobs, education and health care for all.
“The way to win this war is to give hope to our people in the future,” he said.
“We cannot allow terrorists to prevail,” the president said, and recalled that his wife and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Dec 27, 2007 after addressed an election rally.
Zardari described terrorism as a “disease of the mind that preaches intolerance and violence”.
“Terrorists violate both human and divine values by inflicting death and destruction on fellow human beings. They have no religion,” he added.