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ISLAMABAD : Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday urged militants to renounce violence and offered to hold talks with those who give up arms and join the new democratic era.
Addressing the parliament after wining a unanimous vote of confidence, Gilani said terrorism was the biggest threat undermining Pakistan's stability.
"Our first priority will be restoration of law and order and elimination of terrorism from the country," said Gilani, a key aide of murdered opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"The fight against terrorism is our own fight because it has claimed innocent lives of children and youngmen of Pakistan," said Gilani, 55.
"Unfortunately some people have made violence a means to express their views. I appeal to all those people to abandon the path of violence and join us in the journey of democracy.
"We are ready to talk to all those people who give up arms and are ready to embrace peace," Gilani said to loud expression of support from MPs.
He promised a special package of political and economic reforms in tribal areas as part of government strategy to fight terrorism and extremism.
Pakistan has been a bulwark in the US-led fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The country has suffered an unprecedented wave of violence including suicide bombings in the past one year blamed on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Key US ally President Pervez Musharraf's allies lost elections last month, and Gilani told US President George W. Bush this week that a broader approach to the "war on terror" is necessary, including political solutions.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs Richard Boucher were in Pakistan this week apparently to woo the new government to continue cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
- AFP
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