PM condemns Holy Quran desecration

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday condemned the incident involving the desecration of the Quran by US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay and said such incidents could not affect US-Pakistan relations.

Talking to BBC while in Thailand, he said the incident was deplorable, but such incidents would not affect bilateral relations. Reiterating Pakistan’s stance that Abu Farraj Al Libbi was an important Al Qaeda operative involved in terrorism in Pakistan, he said, “We have been on Al Libbi’s trail for a long time and have finally succeeded in catching a dangerous terrorists. We are very happy.” Asked if radical Islam was a problem in Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz said Pakistanis were as normal as anyone else in the world, but in every society there were people with views different from the majority.

He also said the government was successfully dealing with radical elements in Pakistan.

He said Pakistan was a fast growing country and would be among the top five countries in Asia in 2005. He said an emerging Pakistani middle class required more housing and more consumer goods and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) could play an important role in Pakistan’s development.

He also said Kashmir could not be resolved overnight.

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