SWABI, Aug 5: Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said on Friday that terrorism had become the single biggest threat to the Muslim world and pleaded for a collective response for its eradication.

Mr Sherpao was talking to journalists after offering fateha at the residence of the late PML-N leader Abdul Mastan Khan who died on July 24. The minister offered condolences to the sons of the deceased, Ahmad Khan and Liaquat Ahmad Khan.

Calling Islam a religion of peace and harmony, Mr Sherpao said those who want to defame this great religion must be eliminated from the society because terrorist acts had done much harm to the country.

“Those people (terrorists) who indulge in terrorism do nothing for the betterment of Islam and instead they damage our pious religion,” he said.

The minister insisted that whatever the government had been doing against extremists was “according our own priorities and needs” and nothing had been done “at the nod of the United States or Britain”.

“We don’t need any certificate from Washington or London to acknowledge the remarkable steps taken by us to eliminate terrorism. We have done and are doing every possible thing for the betterment of our country,” he said.

The minister said that although Pakistan had been cooperating with Britain in connection with the London blasts on July 7, its security agencies had not made any arrests in this regard. “We are cooperating with all those countries that want to rid the world of terrorism,” he said.

“All those who are studying in our religious madressahs must leave our country,” he said. “Not a single foreign seminary student should be left on our soil because we want to protect our motherland. No one will be allowed to use our land for terrorist activities”. Mr Sherpao said that Afghans might not be dealt with harshly. “All Afghans will be expelled from Islamabad and they will leave for their homeland according to the tripartite agreement which was concluded by Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR. In the current year about 400,000 Afghans will return home”.

The minister said the registration of all religious madrassahs would be completed and the government would take action against all those institutions that fail to register.

Mr Sherpao said Pakistan was not aware of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden but if the American CIA chief knew anything about his hideout, he should share that information with Pakistan so that Osama could be arrested.

Mr Sherpao said Pakistan had disabled the terrorist network and had been closely working with different countries for its complete eradication.

He welcomed the Supreme Court verdict about the Hasba Bill and claimed that the bill was passed in haste by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government so that it could influence results of the upcoming local body elections.