Pak must revisit policy on war against terror in light of US censure: Qureshi

Karachi, April 23(ANI): Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad must review its counter-terrorism strategy, following a discouraging statement given in this regard by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, during his recent visit to the country.

Admiral Mullen had said in a recent interview: "What I worry about all these organisations, whether it is Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, JuD, LeT... there is a syndication which has occurred in the region here over the course of last three years, which is more and more worrisome and increasingly so TTP, under [Hakimullah] Mehsud, has espoused aspirations outside the region."

"What I am concentrating on myself here is the presence of al-Qaeda and its leadership, which pose a big threat to the US. It is the Haqqani network which is killing the Americans across the border," he said in another interview.

Talking to media during his visit to Sunni Tahreek (ST) Headquarters in Karachi, Qureshi said that Pakistan should revisit its policy on the war on terror.

30,000 Pakistanis had lost their lives in fighting the war on terror, and the country had suffered losses worth hundreds of billions in dollars, the Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying.

The former minister said that he had established a working group, comprising Mashaikh of various shrines and Ahle Sunnat clerics, to seek recommendations to counter terrorism activities in the country.

He had held a meeting in Multan, in which over 86 Mashaikh of various shrines were invited to discuss measures for safe guarding the sanctity of Pakistan's holy shrines, he said, adding that the next meeting of the working group would be held in Rawalpindi.

Condemning terror attacks at the shrines of Hazrat Data Darbar, Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Pak Patan Sharif and Sakhi Sarwar, Qureshi said that 36 terror attacks had been reported on various shrines in the country.

He opined that new administrative units in the form of provinces could be established, as the population of the country had been increasing day by day.

"There is a possibility to create new provinces, but dialogue on various platforms is mandatory to develop consensus among masses in this connection," he added. (ANI)