Islamabad: Al-Qaeda has "no place" in Pakistan and it cannot be allowed to operate and commit acts of terrorism "here or elsewhere", President Pervez Musharraf said today.
Blaming internal and external elements for conspiring to destabilise Pakistan, he vowed that they would be defeated with the support of the people.

Terrorism and extremism would also have to be defeated as they pose a grave danger to the country and its economic growth, Musharraf told the weekly "Aiwan-e-Sadr Say" programme on state-run PTV. Suicide bombers were "misguided and mad people" as they were killing innocent people, he added.

Reiterating the government's resolve that al-Qaeda has no place in Pakistan and terrorists cannot be allowed to commit acts of terror from its soil, Musharraf said those harbouring terrorists would face stern action. He said the people of Pakistan are moderate and they reject extremism.

"We can surmount all difficulties, (but) we need to have confidence in ourselves and faith in our abilities and we have to defeat such elements," he said while speaking on the topic "challenges confronting Pakistan and the way forward". He said: "There is no place for al-Qaeda in Pakistan. We cannot allow al-Qaeda to operate and commit acts of terrorism here or elsewhere."

There is some demoralisation in the air as a negative picture of Pakistan is being portrayed by the media, especially in the West, he said, urging the people not to be swayed by such "propaganda".

Source : PTI