The general elections in the country will be held on schedule, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday. Talking to media persons during a visit to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Malik said that the country was facing carious challenges and efforts were being made to cope with them. He said violence in Karachi was part of a well thought out plan, adding that anti-state elements wanted to destabilise the country.

He appreciated the role of law-enforcement agencies to root out terrorism and extremism from the country. Earlier, the Interior Minister visited the Mazar-e-Quaid to pay homage to the Quaid-i-Azam, coinciding with the 136th birth anniversary of the Founder of Pakistan. Rehman Malik also laid a floral wreath and offered fateha and wrote his remarks in the visitors' book.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2012