Pak army vows to ‘eliminate’ terrorism

Pakistan’s military vowed to eliminate terrorism, undeterred by a call from al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden for a rebellion against President Gen Pervez Musharraf. “We have the aim and objective, as our national duty, to eliminate terrorists and eradicate extremism,” army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said.

“Such threats issued through videos or in any other way cannot deter us” from fulfilling that duty, Arshad said.

Pakistan’s government spokesman refused to comment on the bin Laden video. But a prominent lawmaker from a hard-line Islamic coalition strongly opposed to Musharraf’s alliance with Washington said he thought the video was fake. He offered no evidence to back up his assertion.