Extremism not a threat for Pakistan : Zardari

September 23rd, 2009 NEW YORK - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the US to reimburse the $1.6 billion dollars spent on fighting extremism in his country's tribal areas. Zardari made the demand during two separate meetings here with US officials, including special Af-Pak envoy Richard Holbrooke, DawnNews reported.

September 23rd, 2009 NEW YORK - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the US to reimburse the $1.6 billion dollars spent on fighting extremism in his country's tribal areas. Zardari made the demand during two separate meetings here with US officials, including special Af-Pak envoy Richard Holbrooke, DawnNews reported.

September 10th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said he believes that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is dead. In an interview with the BBC, Zardari said: "It seems as if Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Ladin is no longer alive." Zardari reiterated that democracy was working well in Pakistan, and the government is determined to fight extremism and root out militancy from the country's soil.

July 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan now seems to be feeling the heat of the fire it had lighted years ago, with President Asif Ali Zardari admitting that the menace of extremism and militancy were created by Islamabad itself to attain some tactical goals. Addressing a gathering of retired federal secretaries and senior bureaucrats here, Zardari asked the officials to admit the reality.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who has the backing of top military commanders for his goodwill gestures towards India, has said that the army is united in dealing with the threat emanating from militants and are no more worried about the Indian threat. In Pakistan civil leaders always operate in the shadow of the military, but Zardari appears to have backing of the army high command for some controversial stances, a report in The Telegraph states.

July 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States has said it would establish its own monitoring system to keep a check on the entire financial aid package being offered to Pakistan. Sources said David Lipton, Senior Director for International Economics, National Security Council of USA, during his recent visit to Pakistan, met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's Adviser on Financial Affairs, Shaukat Tarin, and told him about the monitoring cell.

June 24th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that India is no longer a military threat to Pakistan, rather it is the Taliban which is threatening peace in the region as well as in the whole world. Talking to a private television channel ahead of the first summit between the European Union (EU) and Pakistan here, Zardari said both India and Pakistan do not have any ill-feelings against each other, and both the countries have good intentions.

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The President of Pakistan, Asaf Ali Zardari, has expressed his fears over Taliban and Al-Qaeda turning out to be a major threat to the world, if their destabilizing alliance is allowed to triumph in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "If the Taliban and al-Qaeda are allowed to triumph in our region, their destabilizing alliance will spread across the continents," Zardari wrote in the Washington Post.

May 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Responding strongly to critics of his administration in the United States, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday that the war against extremists and militants in the tribal badlands had begun much before the 9/11 strikes across America. "It's a war of our existence," Zardari told NBC News's Meet the Press.

May 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that all Madarsas in the countries would be taken over by the government to separate the students from extremism and impart modern as well as religious education to them. Speaking at a community dinner here, Zardari said his government has resolved to bring reforms in the Madarsas system and bring it under the government system.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said he is eager to start talks with India soon to establish peace between both the nations. Zardari, who is in Washington to take part in a trilateral summit with his US and Afghanistan counterparts, said he was waiting for the Indian general elections to get over so that peace initiatives could be resumed, which was disrupted after the heightened tension in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

April 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari today expressed Pakistan's firm commitment to fighting extremism, and vowed to never give in to the militants and extremists. Talking to a US Congressional delegation led by Senator John Kyl at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Zardari said the fight against extremism cannot be won only through military means alone.

April 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is fighting terrorism for its own survival and would not succumb to pressure by militants, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has told top US officials. "Pakistan is fighting a battle for its own survival," the Dawn quoted Zardari as telling Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

March 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Amidst the on-going political blame game, and fears of military taking over the reigns, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has assured that there is no risk of derailment of democracy in the country. According to a People's Media Cell handout released before his departure to Iran, Zardari negated the notion that Pakistan is a failed state.

February 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and the US will evolve a joint strategy to tackle terrorism and extremism in the region, the state-run APP news agency reported Wednesday. US President Barack Obama telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday and assured him that Washington would continue to provide assistance to Pakistan for the development of its social and economic sectors.