The new coalition government will not negotiate with “terrorists”, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday.
| In Muslim parlance, I think that means Israel and the U.S. Everybody else is freedumb fighters. |
“We will not negotiate with terrorists, but we will engage [them in dialogue] and we believe in political engagement,” Qureshi told Dawn News television in an interview. He said the new government would adopt a multi-pronged strategy to combat terrorism, as military force alone was not the only solution. He said the PPP-led coalition government would engage the local population “politically”.
The Foreign minister said that it was a mistaken perception that Pakistan was fighting the USÂ’ war on terror, adding that terrorism was affecting PakistanÂ’s people and economy. He said the new government would convince the people that the war on terror was in PakistanÂ’s best interest. |