LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron told his fellow parliamentarians on the floor of the lower House of Commons Tuesday that Pakistan has suffered more from terrorism than any other country in the world and that it was in the UK’s interest to support democratic forces in the South Asian country.“Both President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani said to me yesterday, when I spoke to them that as many 30,000 innocent civilians have been killed in Pakistan and more Pakistani soldiers and security forces have died fighting extremism than international forces killed in Afghanistan,” he said in a statement on the slaying of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan on Sunday.He said Bin Laden was an enemy of Pakistan and had declared war against the Pakistani people and had ordered attacks against them.
The British Prime Minister quoted President Obama as saying that counter-terrorism co-operation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound where was hiding and continued co-operation will be just as important in the days ahead.He said: “It was in the Britain’s national interest to recognise that with Pakistan we share the same struggle against terrorism. That’s why we will continue to work with our Pakistani counterparts on intelligence gathering, tracing plots and taking action to stop them. We will continue to honour our aid promises including our support for education as a critical way of helping the next generation of Pakistanis turned their back on extremism.”Cameron said as one of the founding member of Democratic Friends of Pakistan, Britain believes that by working with the democrats in that country that one can make sure that the whole country shared the same determination to fight terror and terrorism.He said the death of Bin Laden provides a new opportunity for both Afghanistan and Pakistan to work together in order to achieve stability on both sides of the border.The British Prime Minister termed the death of Al-Qaeda as a strike at the heart of the international terror.In a clear message to Taliban in Afghanistan, Cameron said now was the time to separate themselves from Al-Qaeda and participate in peaceful political process. – APP
