Zardari appeals to Pak citizens to support offensive against Taliban

October 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have vowed to launch a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Their decision comes in the wake of the recent reports claiming that the Pakistan Army is all set to launch a ground offensive in the Taliban stronghold, as it has stationed the required helicopters at bases in the area.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has once again blamed his predecessor Pervez Musharraf for death of his wife and former premier Benazir Bhutto, claiming that she died by a bullet not by the bomb that a Scotland Yard report identified as the cause. "I wish Musharraf had looked after my wife as I can look after myself," The Telegraph quoted Zardari, as saying.

July 5th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the offensive against the Taliban and other extremist groups being carried out in the Swat and Malakand Divisions would be concluded only when the region is completely sanitized. Zardari met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani here to discuss issues relating to the security situation in the country including the ongoing campaign against Taliban in Swat, Malakand and FATA.

July 2nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the military offensive against the Taliban would continue until all the extremists are rooted out from the country. "The fight against militancy and terrorism will end with the complete elimination of militants," Zardari said during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani here.

June 30th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the military offensive in the Malakand division would continue until militants are completely eliminated from the region. "Either the militants have to lay down arms, give up militancy and accept state's authority or they have to be exterminated.

June 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the law-enforcement agencies to ensure that Pak-Taliban chieftains don't escape to other countries. Zardari is reported to have issued the directive during a meeting with NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani.

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 13th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed because she challenged the writ of the Taliban. In a television address to the nation, Zardari said Bhutto's loss has made him realize the pain of families who have been a victim of terrorism.

May 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has threatened Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leaders, saying they would face dire consequences if the military offensive is not discontinued immediately. In a letter to the PPP Information Secretary Fouzia Wahab, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) warned that the country's leadership would be targeted if the operation against them is not stopped.

May 23rd, 2009 LAHORE - Hinting that the military offensive against the Taliban and other extremist groups could be expanded into other regions than the Swat Valley, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the Taliban would be hunted down everywhere inside the country's geographical territory. In an interview to a private television channel, Zardari refuted media reports that quoted him as saying that the government is planning to carry out military operations in Waziristan after Swat.

May 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated his pledge to defeat the Taliban, saying victory against the extremists is the only option available in the in Swat and Malakand regions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "Defeat is no option.

May 17th, 2009 LONDON - After announcing an 'all out war' against the Taliban and other extremists in the Swat Valley, and claiming to have sanitized scores of militants in the region, Pakistan is planning to extend its war to the lawless bastion of Al-Qaeda where Osama bin Laden is supposedly hiding. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the Swat offensive would be extended to Waziristan, and areas close to the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border.

May 17th, 2009 NEW YORK - Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has said that the people of the country do not support the incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari over the idea of announcing an 'all out' war against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. In an interview with the CNN, Musharraf claimed that only 19 percent of the Pakistanis supported Zardari to fight the Taliban.

May 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Asif Ali Zardari has said he knew the Swat peace deal with the Taliban would not work, even as the Pakistan Army intensified its operation against the militant group in the troubled region. The Pakistani Army's advance in Swat marks the failure of Islamabad's boldest attempt yet to compromise with the Taliban.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Visiting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the military operation in the North West Frontier Province's Swat Valley would continue until the Taliban and other extremist groups are completely flushed out, and 'normalcy' returns to the troubled region. Addressing a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and US Senator John Kerry here, Zardari said: "It is going to carry on until life in Swat comes back to normalcy." Zardari's statement came after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared an all out war against the Taliban in restive Swat and Malakand Divisions of the NWFP.