US fueling terrorism: Pak defense minister

EghtesadOnline: Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif believes that measures such as the recent travel ban imposed by United States on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries is not beneficial in the fight against terrorism but is fueling it further.

News ID: ۷۷۴۰۶۶

20 February 2017

He made the remarks while speaking in a panel discussion, titled 'Countering Radical Extremism and Terrorism', at the three-day-long Munich Security Conference 2017.

According to IRNA, he denounced the term 'Islamic terrorism', adding that terrorism should not be associated with any religion.

'I have heard the term Islamic terrorism maybe a dozen times today. President Trump uses it quite frequently,' the defense minister said. 'With all due respect, with all humility on my disposal, this ban on seven states, whatever perceptions the US has, has not helped the fight against terrorism.'

'If the policies of the West are going to be isolationist or exclusive, it won't help the fight against terrorism, it will fuel terrorism,' he added.

'Terrorists aren't Christians or Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus. They are terrorists, they are criminals,' Asif said, adding that branding terrorism as 'Islamic terrorism' fuels Islamophobia and adds to the problem.