Zardari says Taliban winning war -BBC

SINGAPORE: The Pakistani Taliban have “the upper hand” and should be put on the list of banned organisations in Pakistan, said Asif Ali Zardari, who has been nominated by his party to be the country’s next president.

In an interview with the BBC published on its Web site late on Sunday, Zardari, 55, said the world and Pakistan were losing the war on terror.

“It is an insurgency”, the widower of assassinated former prime minster Benazir Bhutto was quoted as saying. “It is our country and we will defend it.”

“The world is losing the war. I think at the moment they (the Taliban) definitely have the upper hand,” he said.

“The issue, which is not just a bad-case scenario as far as Pakistan is concerned or as Afghanistan is concerned but it is going to be spreading further. The whole world is going to be affected by it.”

Zardari’s remarks came shortly after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), put his name forward as its presidential nominee for elections set for Sept. 6.

Monday, Reuters