‘Swat operation model for containing extremism’

Daily Times

* Zardari for early completion of damage assessment in Malakand
* Govt to submit Malakand Pilot Project to FODP partners next week

ISLAMABAD: The social, political and security situation resulting from the military operation in Swat can serve as a model for containing extremism and violence, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday.

"A dispassionate and analytical study of the how and why of Malakand will help devise strategies that can prevent a similar situation from occurring in the rest of the country. If they do reoccur, the present scenario will help devise a means to effectively resolve them," he told a meeting of ambassadors, diplomats and experts from the US, the UK and other key partners of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP). The FODP are helping Pakistan evolve a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for Swat and Malakand.

Fast job: Briefing journalists after the meeting, President's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari had asked the FODP delegates to consider the provision of justice, governance and poverty alleviation in Malakand in addition to rebuilding schools, hospitals, agriculture and infrastructure. The president also called for early assessment of the damage in the conflict-hit area, adding it should be inventory-based.

The president urged the meeting to consider the FODP initiative as a long-term engagement between the international community and Pakistan. He said the FODP was not a donors' club, adding it was "a vehicle to combat militancy and extremism". He also inquired about the international community's aid pledges for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons and directed the officials concerned to pursue the matter and get the pledges translated into reality.

Next week: Following the FODP meeting in Tokyo on April 17, Babar said the government had established a working group on Swat and Malakand, tasking it to prepare a "Malakand Pilot Project". He said the Malakand Pilot Project would be presented to all FoDP partners next week. The project envisages a five-year plan to rehabilitate and reconstruct Swat while addressing the deep-rooted causes of extremism and militancy, he added.

The president said the quadrilateral meeting between the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Russia in Dushanbe last week had discussed the illicit drug trade, adding they had agreed that it financed militancy and must be curbed to defeat extremism. High Commissioner of UK Robert Edward Brinkley, Ambassador of Turkey Mustafa Babur Hizlan and UN representative Jean Arnault were among those present at the meeting.