Zardari links meltdown to 9/11, seeks help to fight terror

Seeking to link the economic recession with the 9/11 attacks on the US, Pakistan has said that terrorism has emerged as a threat to world economy and asked the global community to help it in combating the menace.

A day after international donors pledged more than five billion dollars to help stabilise Pakistan, Zardari told the the Boao Forum for Asia -- which is focussing on tackling the financial crisis -- that terrorism in South Asia is another serious issue haunting the world peace.

"The issue in the region is terrorism, that is evolving around Pakistan and Afghanistan," Zardari was quoted as saying by Pakistan's official news agency.

"Help us, help the region, in the fight against terrorism," Zardari said.

Seeking to link terrorism with the state of the economy, the Pakistani President said, "even today's recession I would put down to the aftermath of what happened in 9/11."

The threat of terrorism has endangered his country economically and also the world at large, he said. "I feel that all of us ... all of you should stand together and check everything which threatens the world economy."

Over a dozen top leaders, 50 ministers and more than 1,600 political leaders, business people and academic scholars gathered in the Boao Forum in China to debate the global financial crisis and devise a strategy to address the issue.