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Zardari vows every sacrifice to defeat terror

* President says operation in Swat and Malakand has full public backing * Pays tribute to Benazir on her 56th birth anniversary

NAUDERO: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday that terrorism and militancy were are a “big challenge” for the country, and vowed “any sacrifice” to defeat terrorists and anti-state elements.

Addressing a gathering at Naudero House to honour Benazir Bhutto on her 56th birth anniversary, Zardari said the struggle against “terrorism and ignorance” would continue at all costs. “This is not a small challenge, this is not a small war, this is a war of ideologies ... with people who are against the very existence of Pakistan,” he said. “It is our land. We will make every sacrifice for it.” He said the ongoing war on terror had the full backing of the masses.

The president said democracy was the solution to all of Pakistan’s problems. He said that Benazir had “provided me the political guideline ... we know very well how to resolve the problems of our country”. He said Pakistan could prosper in light of the principles of Benazir – who “gave her life for the nation and her party workers”

Paying tribute to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir, he said the PPP was a “party of the masses”.

“We are committed to protect Pakistan in accordance with those principles ... I am sure that the evil, internal and external, machinations against Pakistan will not succeed,” said the president.

Zardari said that with China’s help, hydropower stations would be set up to overcome the energy crisis. He claimed that the entire world was “happy with the democratic government in Pakistan and wanted to invest in the country”.

Also, Zardari said that a UN inquiry Commission would begin investigating the assassination of Benazir from July 1. President Zardari said the inquiry commission would soon arrive in Pakistan. “The government is also investigating the matter,” he added.

He congratulated party leaders – including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani – for supporting Bilawal Zardari, “unlike leaders in the past who left Benazir when her father was in jail”. agencies

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