Malala attack strengthened resolve of Pakistanis

The US believes that attack on Malala has strengthened resolve of Pakistanis against terrorism.

While answering a quetion about the 14-year old child activist, who was shot in Swat almost a fortnight ago and is now under treatment in a UK hospital, the deputy spokesperson of the US State Department, Mark Toner said Monday that the terrorists wanted to send a message to Pakistani people through this attack. "When you’re talking about the right of young girls to receive an education and the fact that these individuals, these terrorists, are looking to wipe out or stop these girls from access to education, access to their very basic rights. I think it was a clear message to the Pakistani people, one that’s clearly resonated with them, and I think it strengthened their resolve", he opined. When asked if aybody from the US side had any conversation after the shooting with any Pakistani officials, the deputy spokesperson conceded that it was the case. "Ambassador Grossman was in Pakistan over the weekend, so I’m certain that that was a topic of conversation", he said. On the question whether Pakistan had shared the Abbottabad Commission report wit the US, he said that the US was interested in the findings of this report. "We’ve just seen reports in the Pakistani press about the Abbottabad Commission report. As we’ve stated previously, we obviously share with the Government of Pakistan a profound interest in finding out what kinds of support networks bin Ladin might have had", he said. "We believe such a report, when it does finally get finalized and published, that it’s important for the American people and the Pakistani people to know", he stated while referring to the Commission that was put in place by the Pakistan government after the May 2nd raid last year. He also didn t answer the question about the portion of the report that said nobody in Pakistani higher command was aware of OBL s presence in Abbottabad. "We’ve not yet seen the report itself, so you’re asking me to comment on press reports about the report’s contents. So let’s wait until we have the report and then we’ll be happy to comment on it", he maintained. He, however, was unsure whether the US had provided any assistance to Pakistan in the completion of this report. "It is different. I ll have to find out", he said when asked in this regard. - Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC