Root cause of terrorism in Pak is poverty: Gilani

Islamabad, Dec 15: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a press conference that people in his country took to terrorism because of poverty. Also he said that Pakistan does not want war and it stood for peace. Revealing the defensive stand which Pakistan is now taking after pressure from the international community is mounting to crack down on terror he said, "will fight back any country"s attempt to encroach upon our rights".

Gilani said, "I wish to tell my countrymen that it is peace that we want and not war. If anyone wants to encroach upon our rights, or impose themselves on us, we are capable of fighting back and the citizens of Pakistan need not worry on that account at all as the country is strong and in capable hands."

"I stand here to help alleviate poverty. The root cause of terrorism is poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment," he said.

"Neither are we in favour of terrorism, nor do we encourage it. In fact, it is our resolve to not allow the use of our country's territory for terrorism related operations. and if compliance to guidelines is concerned, it is the UN resolution that we are abiding by, It is not something India has done to us or brought into effect. This resolve has been in effect since 2001," he said.

Pak Prime Minister's comments came a day after Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown met his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and later met Gilani as well. Brown demanded answers from Pakistan. He said Pak had a lot to answer for. Meanwhile Manmohan Singh talk tough to the neighbour in a rally in Anantnag of Jammu Kashmir. He said that the relations with the neighbour country would return to normalcy only after the terror networks operating out of there are dismantled.

In an attack by armed terrorists who alledgely have links to Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), atleast 200 people were killed and more than 400 injured. A group of ten men on Nov 26 opened fire indiscriminately on people in Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST) Mumbai, Taj Mahal Hotel, Hotel Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House in Mumbai.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)