October 2, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 5, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, while holding dictators responsible for terrorism, has called upon the world to make a distinction between Al Qaeda network and Islam, saying carelessly used words can send wrong messages.

Benazir Bhutto, who is also chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, was addressing a gathering of intellectuals, business and public representatives at the Town Hall of Cleveland on Monday.

Saying that the biggest gainers after the terror attacks were dictators and tyrants, who got a new lease of life, the former prime minister questioned whether the regime in Islamabad would have the same importance if Osama Bin Laden was caught and suicide bombings ended.

Dictators, she said, were, in fact, the cause of extremism and private armies. The policy of tolerating dictators in the name of strategic relations needed to be reviewed, she added.

Terming it important to make a distinction between terrorism and people of a particular faith, Benazir Bhutto reminded the audience that in Northern Ireland, the IRA was criticized for its political methods rather than for their religious beliefs.

Today people from Karachi to Cleveland were threatened with violence at the hands of the extremists, she maintained.

The former premier regretted that many a Muslim in the US were fearful of racial profiling by the authorities or of violence at the hands of individuals who turned their anger at terrorism against those of Muslim background.