Sunday, July 31 2005 12:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: As part of its crackdown on religious extremists, Pakistan yesterday (July 30, 2005) said it would cancel the visa of those seeking admission in madrasas in the country after conducting proper investigations, a day after President Pervez Musharraf ordered 1,400 foreigners studying in such institutions to leave immediately.

Stating this, Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, said the objective of the madrasas functioning in the country should be to impart appropriate religious as well as other education to the students and train them to become better citizens.

After the 9/11 attacks in the United States (US), the law enforcing agencies were continuously at work for checking and eliminating terrorism, Sherpao said in Karachi.

His remarks came a day after Musharraf promised to take tough action against extremists and militant groups at home.

Musharraf, who met the foreign media to brief them on the efforts being made by Pakistan to contain extremism in the country, asserted that the country's nuclear weapons are safe and there is no chance of extremists coming to power.

Apparently responding to fears expressed by Singh that there was a likelihood of Pakistan's extremist parties coming to power and seizing control of nuclear weapons, Musharraf said, "All nuclear weapons in Pakistan are in safe hands and will not fall into the hands of the extremists," adding, "Pakistan will never be ruled by extremists."