US Secretary of State John Kerry gestures on January 23, 2015 during a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. PHOTO: AFP
DAVOS: US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that militant attacks such as the one on the Army Public School in Peshawar can not be rationalised.
"This kind of atrocity can never be rationalised," said Kerry adding that, "We can't change minds without knowing what's in them.”
On December 16, 2014, as many as seven militants stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar and killed around 150 students and teachers. There were over 1,000 students and teachers in the school at the time of the attack.
In an emotional speech on Friday on the horrors inflicted by extremist groups, Kerry said that in the fight against "terror", there was "no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia".
"Violent extremism has claimed violence at every corner of the globe and muslim lives most of all," Kerry said.
"There is no room for sectarian division. There is no room for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia," he added.
Kerry told an audience in Davos that he would visit Nigeria "in a couple of days" as part of a Washington push to counter extremist groups, including Boko Haram.
"In the weeks to come we... have to strengthen our efforts in Somalia, intensify our efforts to end violence in Nigeria, that's why I m going there in a couple of days," he said.
After the speech, a spokesperson for Kerry confirmed that he would be in Lagos on Sunday and meet with President Goodluck Jonathan.
Shared at #wef15: world can’t sit back & assure ourselves that extremism is containable. No country insulated. Must counter at roots.
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) January 23, 2015
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jagmohan, @arbeez..Your comments are quite off the mark to help solve present problems of extremism and terrorism as there is no use quoting unverified statistics or past international happenings. The basic problem is to control extremism and terrorism which is widely spread in Pakistan and also rapidly emerging elsewhere.Since Government of Pakistan has initiated some big measures to control the menace, it is the duty of every citizen to whole heartedly support such measures and all the more by educated gentry.Now you know reasons and the sources creating the menace and that calls for your unalloyed cooperation.In addition to the govt.action people have to come forward to stop hate mongering and change mind set befitting the present 21st Century.There is urgent need for overhauling education and even re-education of people gone off the track and are sympathetic to extremism.No doubt,matters of religion are quite delicate and require no suggestion from outside,however one has to ponder how people have had been following the good religion peacefully for centuries and society enjoyed its blessings.God has endowed Pakistan with fertile human and material resources,please allow change in the mind set and develop the country fully.Wishing good luck.
World can’t sit back & assure ourselves that extremism is containable. No country insulated. Must counter at roots. And the root of every evil is America, which cannot think beyond its personal interest. When it was in the interest of America to create ‘Mullah Mafia’ so that it could fight a cold war against USSR, America did so. When it was in the interest of America to finance its cold war by ‘white gold’ trade, America created $300,000,000,000 trade. When it was in the interest of America to wage a new cold war against China via Afghanistan, America did so and it didn’t care that ‘Mullah Mafia’ was killing innocent Pakistanis because America want the help of ‘Mullah Mafias’ against China. When it was in the interest of America to work for ‘greater Israel’, America encourage tribal wars in Middle East and now when these wars are going to be ‘trench warfare of WWI’, America’s personal interest comes first. When it is in the interest of America to strengthen every anti-China power, America is helping world’s biggest poverty to become an artificial elephant not realizing that this help will disturb India’s relations with Pakistan. And a country where already 400,000,000 people and living with $37 per month and 480,000,000 are living with $60 per month will surely increase its poverty when it will attain the title of artificial elephant.
Obama, says no tolerance to terrorists safe heavens in Pakistan, kerry says, attack is not to be rationalized i.e. INDIA should also stop all this and abandon connections with FZAL ULLAHA and cronies for perpetration like this
And, once again, The Finger. Kerry, The Big Limp Finger.
Again, I think we have seen a huge change in Pakistan after APS. We have realized that we must take charge and defeat this evil, rather than crying that other people are causing it.
Another great comment by John Kerry. Ever since we've put more effort into making our country safer, the U.S. has used its influence to remind the world that Pakistan has been one of the biggest victims. I hope to see this trend continue.