Sunday, September 13, 2009

Troops close in on Fazlullah, says Malik

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned the chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam Mangal Bagh to lay down arms and renounce violence otherwise he would meet the same fate as other terrorists.

Spokesman Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Swat Muslim Khan and other commanders would be put on trial in accordance with the law, said the interior minister while talking to media men after meeting with a delegation led by President Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Fata Malik Waris Khan Afridi on Sunday.

The interior minister said that the dragnet around chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat Maulvi Fazalullah has really been tightened and he would not be able to escape. Muslim Khan has disclosed many things during interrogation, said Malik.

The interior minister went on to say the ‘Zaliman’ who used children for suicide bombings would be eliminated soon. He said that due to the insurgency in Fata, no development schemes had been carried out in the region during the last 10 years but steps were now being taken to eliminate terrorism so that development schemes could be initiated. Special zone for reconstruction in tribal areas would also be constituted, he said.

The interior minister appealed to the Khasadar personnel, who refused to perform their duties in Bara Tehsil after threats by Lashkar-e-Islam Chief Mangal Bagh, to come back to their duties.

He said that all political parties were taken into confidence before starting operation Rah-e-Rast and now it was clear that the nation and the political leadership of the country were united against anti state elements

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