Militants using drug money for insurgency: President

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday called for early completion of assessment of the damage done to the Swat and operation affected areas, adding that it should be inventory based. He was presiding over a meeting of ambassadors, diplomats and experts from the USA, UK and key partners of Pakistan in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) who are assisting Pakistan in evolving a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for Swat and Malakand. Briefing journalists about the meeting Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President asked the experts that while focusing on rebuilding schools, hospitals, agriculture and infrastructure in Malakand they should not lose sight of addressing the other vital areas such as justice, governance and poverty alleviation strategies. The President enquired about the status of the aid pledges made by the international community for relief and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons and directed the relevant officials to pursue it to get the pledges translated into reality at the earliest. The Malakand project envisages a five year plan of action providing for not only rehabilitation and reconstruction of Swat but also to address the deep rooted causes of extremism and militancy and how to address them, he said. The President also talked of the problem of narcotics and drug which was feeding the war machine of the militants. He said that the quadrilateral meeting of the four heads of states of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Russia in Dushanbe last week, the issue was discussed and all countries agreed in the joint statement that uncontrolled Norco trade financed militants and militancy and must be collectively curbed to defeat militancy.