Will Wage War on Terror Till the Terrorist Left in Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif

mangaloretoday.com/ NDTV

Peshawar, Dec 17:  Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his most bitter critic Imran Khan today sat side by side and vowed to wage a united war against terror after an all-party meeting in Peshawar, where Taliban gunmen killed 132 children in a school in what has been described as Pakistan’s bloodiest terror attack ever.

Pakistan’s political parties, Mr Sharif said, would together draft in the next seven days, a national plan of action to fight against terror. "We agree that there is no difference between good and bad Taliban," said Mr Sharif, calling the terror attack a "cowardly act by the terrorists." He promised to ensure that "not a single terrorist is left in Pakistan."

 

Imran Khan, whose party the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf governs the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province where Peshawar is and has been accused of being soft on the Taliban, said, "Pakistan’s entire political spectrum is united against terrorism."

Heads of all parliamentary parties were invited for the meeting. Mr Sharif informed that he has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in terror related cases. "Yesterday’s incident is extremely tragic," he told the political leaders. "These sacrifices will not go wasted and we all want complete elimination of terrorism from Pakistan." (Pakistan PM Lifts Moratorium on Death Penalty After Peshawar School Attack)

A de facto moratorium on civilian executions has been in place in Pakistan since 2008.

Mr Sharif had decided to resume the moratorium soon after his government took office in June last year but suspended the plan under international pressure.