Pak must rethink policy of sheltering militants after failed plot to kill Gilani: Expert

ISLAMABAD - An expert on militant groups has said that Pakistan must rethink its historic policy of sheltering militants following the arrest of seven men in a suspected plot to kill Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and other senior officials.

“This is a clarion call the establishment should be listening to. These groups go across the boundaries and good becomes bad and bad becomes ugly,” the Christian Science Monitor quoted Badar Alam, as saying.

He said that such plots highlight the inherent flaw in the Pakistani military establishment’s policy of sheltering those militants it feels could be useful further down the line.

“Civilian law enforcement in Punjab has been wary of cracking down hard on Punjabi militant groups in the past for fear of creating a backlash, though there now appears to be a newfound restlessness in tracking down enemies of the state,” Alam said.

Pakistan police have arrested seven men claiming that they were plotting to kill Gilani in a gun and suicide bomb attack at his house.

Officials said that the suspects belonged to the Al-Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group.

Their plan included monitoring Gilani’s movements and storming his private residence in Multan with guns and a suicide bomber.

“These terrorists were arrested in a timely fashion, and surely we have averted an attack on the Prime Minister,” police investigator Waris Bharwana said. (ANI)