Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has strongly condemned the suicide blast in Swat today, which resulted in the loss of precious lives.

The Foreign Minister said that terrorism cannot be allowed to succeed. The people and the Government of Pakistan are determined to root out this menace and make Pakistan a stable and prosperous country. He added that cleansing of Swat of militants and criminals involved huge sacrifices by the nation as a whole and that the gains achieved in the Malakand region would not be allowed to whittle away under any circumstances.

The Foreign Minister expressed his profound condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of those who sustained injuries in the blast.

Islamabad

13 March 2010