Pakistan Calls on Islamic Scholars to Help Combat Extremism

By Ed Johnson

May 20 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called on Islamic scholars to help root out extremism, as security forces waged an urban offensive against Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat Valley.

Terrorists are perverting the teachings of Islam and scholars should speak with one voice against the militants, Gilani said yesterday.

“It is time that they stand united to protect the country from all challenges,” Gilani said at a religious affairs conference in the capital, Islamabad, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Pakistan’s government is trying to build support in the world’s second-most populous Muslim nation for its offensive against Taliban insurgents. The militants reneged on a peace accord and last month advanced on the capital, even after the government agreed to impose Islamic law in Swat and neighboring districts.

Religious schools, or madrassas, play a key role in radicalizing Pakistani youth and provide a pool of Taliban recruits who cross the border to attack western forces in Afghanistan, according to the United Nations and U.S. intelligence agencies. 

The three-week army offensive has forced almost 1.5 million people from their homes, the largest and fastest exodus to occur anywhere in the world in recent years, according to the UN. 

“The number of people on the move every day is so big and the response is never enough,” said Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees, in a statement on the UN Web site yesterday. 

2 Million Displaced 

The UN estimates more than 500,000 people fled fighting in the region last year, bringing the number displaced to about 2 million. 

Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari will chair a meeting today of ministers and officials from North West Frontier Province to discuss an aid effort, APP reported. 

The military campaign in Swat is being waged under pressure from the Obama administration, which says the extremists threaten the stability of the nuclear-armed nation and endanger U.S. security. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday the U.S. will send $100 million in humanitarian aid to Pakistan. 

President Barack Obama is “determined to match our words with our actions, because Pakistan’s government is leading the fight against extremists that threaten the future of their country and our collective security,” Clinton said at the White House. “Pakistan is facing a major humanitarian crisis.” 

U.S. Aid

The $100 million comes on top of about $60 million already provided to Pakistan since last August to help citizens affected by the fighting, Clinton said. The U.S. is coordinating the delivery of the aid with the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Fighting is taking place in the town of Kanju, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from Swat’s main city, Mingora, where thousands of civilians are trapped without food, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters. Pakistani forces also reported clashes with insurgents in other parts of Swat, including the town of Matta, north of Mingora.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aIbJ1wiGlKrc&refer=home#