Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf Friday said all foreign nationals studying in his country's madaris (religious schools) would be asked to leave.

"All foreigners are to be removed," he told foreign journalists at his military office in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, twin city of Islamabad.

Musharraf ordered a nationwide crackdown on Islamic militants preaching violence and hatred, two days after the London bombings on July 7.

The British authorities identified three of the four suspected bombers to be British but of Pakistani descent and at least one of the them visited a Islamic seminary in the eastern Lahore city.

However, Musharraf made it clear that none of nearly 600 clerics and Islamic activists arrested in the crackdown linked to the London bombings.

He said no new visas would be issued to those wishing to study in Pakistani religious seminaries and that the restriction would also apply to those holders of dual nationality.

Musharraf reiterated that under the country's new Madaris Ordinance to be issued shortly, all Islamic schools would be required to register with the government by Dec. 31.

He warned to take action against those failing to comply with the directives.

Musharraf asked the international community not to blame Pakistan for terrorist acts in different parts of the world as it had dismantled the command and control system and communication networks of Al-Qaeda in the country.

He emphasized the need to differentiate between terrorism and extremism and said the terrorists would be dealt with full force and would be eliminated from Pakistan and that extremism was being countered with a prudent approach.

All banned organizations would not be allowed to operate in any form under any name and their leaders would be arrested and tried under the country's anti-terrorist act, Musharraf said.

Distribution of hate material including books, pamphlets and CDs would not be allowed and the government would not tolerate the misuse of mosques for preaching hatred, the president noted.

Referring to the Pak-Indo relations, Musharraf said the peace process between Pakistan and India was on track but asked to avoid statements that could harm it.

"The peace process stands exactly where it was, I have no doubt in my mind (that) it will continue," he said in his two-hour interaction with foreign media.

Musharraf said it was some rhetoric statements from New Delhi that gave an impression that the two countries were drifting away from the process they began in January 2004.

He said at the government level, the two countries were on track vis-a-vis moving on the confidence building measures they were taking and the resolution of their outstanding disputes.

The president stressed there was a need to take corrective action on making rhetoric statements and that the two sides " should not get involved in the issues that create gulf and harm the peace process."

In an interview to CNN during his recent US visit, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made some statements on Pakistan's nuclear program, which Islamabad termed negative and misleading.

Musharraf, however, said these negative statements had not affected the reality of the ongoing peace process, which Pakistan wanted to take forward.

Source: Xinhua