Cancer of terrorism will be eliminated: Zardari
(Clockwise from Top-Left) Pakistani policemen and onlookers gather as a cloud of smoke and flames billow from the burning Marriott hotel following a powerful bomb blast in Islamabad on Saturday. At least 53 people were killed in a massive bomb blast at the hotel; Pak policemen stand by a huge crater left by the bomb blast; Pak employees collect documents at the reception of the devastated hotel; a Pakistani volunteer helps an injured blast victim outside the hotel; Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani consoles a suicide attack survivor receiving treatment at a hospital in Islamabad. Photo: AFP
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday called terrorism a cancer that the government is determined to eliminate after a suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel killed at least 53 people.
"Terrorism is a cancer in Pakistan, we are determined, God willing, we will rid the country of this cancer," Zardari said in a televised address to the nation, hours after the attack in the heart of the capital Islamabad.
"We will not be deterred by these cowards, Pakistanis are brave and fearless people, they are not afraid of death," he said.
"I promise you that such actions by these cowards will not lower our resolve," he said.
"I appeal to all democratic forces to come and save Pakistan," he said.
The massive truck bomb appeared to be timed to cause the maximum number of casualties, coming as the hotel was thronged with families holding their evening meal to break the daily Ramadan fast.
"It was a day of festivity and celebration for democracy and the entire nation, but these cowards turned our jubilation into grief," he said.
Zardari, who faces a struggle to rein in al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, delivered his inaugural address to parliament just hours before the bombing and only a few hundred metres away from the hotel.
Zardari, who took office earlier this month, vowed in his parliamentary speech to "root out terrorism and extremism wherever and whenever they may rear their ugly heads."
In his televised address later, he assured families of those killed in the blast that the government would support them.
"All those who embraced martyrdom were our brothers and children. I ask all those sisters who lost their brothers, and mothers who lost their sons to be patient, because these people died with their boots on.
"They were martyred for this country and we will always remember them and support their families," he said.
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