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Will fight till Pakistan gets rid of extremism: Zardari

December 28, 2010 21:41 IST
Pakistan's fight against militancy is a long drawn battle that will continue till the country was rid of militants and extremists, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday.

Zardari made the remarks during a meeting with Akhunzada Chatan, a Pakistan People's Party lawmaker from Bajaur tribal region, where the country's first woman suicide bomber killed nearly 50 people in an attack on a United Nations aid distribution centre last week.

There was "no question of going back on this fight which was being fought for the survival of the country as a democratic and progressive state in which the ballot and not the bullet determined the fate of the people," Zardari said.

The victims of Saturday's suicide bombing in Bajaur agency will be fully compensated, he said. Zardari asked authorities to ensure that compensation is paid to the heirs of victims speedily and that the injured are given the best medical attention.

Chatan met the President over the weekend at Naudero in southern Sindh province, where PPP leaders and workers had assembled for several events marking the third anniversary of the death of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Zardari praised the courage and sacrifices of the people of Bajaur, the other tribal areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa province in the fight against militants.
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