Anti-terror campaign to continue

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Lt General (r) Khalid Maqbool said on Friday that the government’s campaign against extremists would not stop and the evidence collected by law enforcement agencies from the site of the attack on President General Pervez Musharraf’s convoy at Rawalpindi would help trace the conspirators.

Governor Maqbool told reporters that the attempted assassination of the president was a conspiracy against Pakistan to shatter the public’s confidence in the state and the government. He said the president and senior officials traveling with him were safe. The governor expressed grief over the loss of civilian lives in the incident.

Governor Maqbool, who visited Rawalpindi after the attacks said that two suicide bombers rammed into the presidential motorcade near his official residence, killing 15 people and injuring at least 52. He vowed that the government would never submit to terrorism and was committed to eliminate it in all its forms and manifestations. The Punjab governor said that maximum security would be provided to the delegates attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Islamabad. He said that Pakistan alone was not faced with such suicidal attacks which were being made across the world. He said that developed countries like the United States and Israel were also facing such threats.

Commenting on the criticism over the failure of security agencies to contain such acts, Governor Maqbool said that it was not easy to keep a check on suicide bombers. However, by increasing security measures including closely monitoring the activities of the hardliners, installing close circuit cameras at public places and deputing an increased number of plainclothes intelligence staff the risk of such acts at public places could be decreased.

The governor claimed that besides the suicidal attempts on President Musharraf the overall law and order situation in Punjab was better and in control. —Staff Report

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