Cameron not to apologise for Pakistan terror remarks Monitoring Desk

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LONDON: Unfazed by an official protest lodged by Islamabad against his comments, Britain today said Prime Minister David Cameron stood by his remarks asking Pakistan to stop exporting terror and will not back away or apologise. “He stands by his remarks,” said a spokeswoman on the eve of President Asif Ali Zardari’s official visit here. “He (Cameron) was referring to elements within Pakistan supporting terrorism and not the Pakistan government,” she said after the British High Commissioner in Islamabad Adam Thomson had been summoned by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The UK Foreign Office said in a statement afterwards: "The high commissioner and Foreign Minister Qureshi discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including President Zardari's upcoming visit to the UK." Cameron's spokeswoman said he had acknowledged Pakistan was taking action against extremism and insisted his comments last week had referred to elements within Pakistan supporting terrorism, not to the Pakistani government. Asked about the burning of an effigy of the prime minister, she added: "People have a right to protest." Relations between London and Islamabad soured last week when Cameron while on an official visit to India said Pakistan could not be permitted to “look both ways” in promoting the export of terror, while publicly working for stability in the region. The stand-off between the two countries came as Zardari arrived in Paris for a five-day difficult trip to Paris and London. Zardari is scheduled to go ahead with his trip to Britain on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet Cameron at his country residence Chequers on Friday, despite demands back home in Pakistan that he cancel the visit as done by ISI chief Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha.