By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari would demand $1 billion from the NATO as compensation for the war on terror and its dire consequences on the country’s economy, a top official said.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari would put forward the demand at the NATO summit in Chacago, Geo News reported.
The payment through NATO’s Coalition Support Fund was Pakistan’s right, he said.
“We are with the international community in the fight against this menace (terrorism) but it cannot be won by military means only. Poverty and unemployment are two big reasons of extremism,” Babar said.
Babar said it was imperative to win the hearts of the people in order to establish peace in the country.
US President Barack Obama is hosting a two-day NATO summit in Chicago that will focus on plans to hand over security to Afghan forces and withdrawal of foreign troops by 2014.
Zardari is being accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbass Jilani.