07:50, 08 May 2009 | GMT +5
Pakistani leader vows to continue operation against extremists before normalcy returns
WASHINGTON. May 7. KAZINFORM Visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said here Thursday that his country's military will carry on operations against extremists until the situation in troubled Swat Valley returns normal, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

"It is going to carry on until life in Swat comes back to normalcy," Zardari told reporters after meeting with key members of the U.S. Senate a day after a tripartite summit with President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Kazai.
Pakistani security forces reportedly have been fighting against Taliban-linked militants for days in the restive Swat valley.
U.S. Senator John Kerry, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Lugar, the ranking member of the minority Republicans had closed-door meeting with Zardari earlier in the day, having briefed the Pakistani leader their bill to triple civilian American aid to Pakistan to 7.5 billion dollars over the next five years.
Kerry declined to provide a precise date for the new aid to Pakistan. But "we do understand the urgency," he said, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.