Swat operations will replicate T20 victory: Gilani (Lead)

Saying the Pakistani cricket team had done the nation proud by winning the World Twenty20 tournament, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday expressed confidence the military would achieve similar success in its anti-Taliban operations in Swat and other areas of the northwest.

"The way the cricketers have won the Twenty20 cup, similarly the Pakistani army will win the war against terrorists in Swat and Malakand," Gilani said as the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, feted the cricketers Thursday.

He spoke after the cricket team was accorded a rousing welcome by MPs when they arrived in the visitors' gallery.

"The way they played have made everyone of us proud and I congratulate them," APP news agency quoted Gilani as saying.

"Younus Khan’s captaincy, Afridi’s sixes, Kamran Akmal’s batting and Umar Gul’s bowling - I watched it all intently. And the prayers of the whole nation were with cricket team,” he added.

Lamenting that Pakistan, as a nation, could not give the cricketers a hero’s welcome when they returned, Gilani said: “But today, in the house, representatives of 160 million people are giving them a welcome and it is like the whole nation welcoming them home.”

The prime minister, however, raised eyebrows when he said he would ask the interior minister to make tight security arrangements for the ODI World Cup 2011.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had stripped Pakistan of its right to host the World Cup matches it had been allotted in the wake of the March 3 murderous attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.

The ICC later said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would receive the $1 million it had been committed for hosting the 14 matches it had been allotted but that these will now be played at venues in the other co-host countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Referring to the Lahore incident, Gilani said: “It was done by those who want to destabilise Pakistan and do not want this country to prosper.”

Earlier, while speaking a reception at the PM House he hosted for the team, Gilani said the World T20 victory had revived the spirit of nationhood in a country that had been suffering from “depression” for the “last few years”.

“Since the last few years there was a lot of depression in our beloved country. We were in need of happiness, which has been brought in due to the excellent performance of our cricket team,” Gilani said.

“Today I am very proud of addressing the heros of my country,” the prime minister said, announcing a grant of Rs.10 million for the team.

Despite the fact that Pakistan was not amongst the favourites in the competition, the team's performance in the true spirit of Pakistan had led to its triumph, Gilani said, adding: “The whole nation is proud of you.”

Gilani also utilised the occasion to deliver a strong message against terrorism.

“We will, Insha Allah, eliminate terrorism from this country soon. This country will again emerge as strong and prosperous nation,” he maintained.

The Pakistani security forces' anti-Taliban operations in the Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts entered their 60th day Thursday, with the military saying 1,599 militants have so far been killed.

The operations last week spread to South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan to target Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Some 3.8 million people have been displaced by the military operations and Pakistan has asked the global community to open their pockets to aid their relief and rehabilitation.

Last updated on Jun 25^th, 2009 at 16:48 pm IST--IANS