Pakistan minister seeks death penalty for terrorists

Pakistan's judiciary is under an obligation to root out the scourge of extremism and should award the death penalty to persons convicted for acts of terrorism, a provincial minister said on Friday. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Information Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, said "the heads of several banned groups have claimed responsibility for masterminding acts of sabotage in mosques and bazars and (attacks) on security forces". "Therefore, in view of the serious nature of these acts, the judiciary should impose the death penalty on terrorists," he said. Addressing a seminar on violence against journalists organised by the South Asia Free Media Association at Peshawar Press Club, he said when terrorists are killed, "they are termed as extra-judicial killings and when innocent people die, nobody bothers about them." "When we arrest terrorists, they are freed due to lack of authentic proof," the minister said. Hussain said that terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for various terrorist attacks across the country but the judiciary continued to ask the government to produce viable proof against terrorists. The network of terrorists has been weakened in areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa bordering the tribal belt, he said. "Earlier it was the war of our survival, whereas it is now the war of the terrorists' survival," he added. "This is a guerrilla war and it will continue till the interests of superpowers clashed with each other. Unless these differences are resolved, the war cannot be taken to its logical conclusion," Hussain said. The US, Pakistan and Afghanistan should share intelligence with each other as these countries are the major forces in the war on terror, he noted. Any clash in the policies of these countries could impact the results of the war, he said. Iran, Russia, India and China have their own interests in the region and unless they find a viable solution to their problems, the war against terror could not be won completely, Hussain cautioned. Terrorists were made into hero-like figures by certain sections of the media but the government's political policies turned the tide, he said. The suicide blasts at Data Darbar shrine in Lahore were an indication of the presence of the Taliban in Punjab, he said. Senior journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai, Peshawar Press Club president Shamim Shahid and a large number of media persons were present on the occasion.