Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani: A Mandate Against Musharraf.(The Last Word)(Pervez Musharraf)(Interview)

Byline: Ron Moreau

'We need help from the world because we are fighting terror and extremism. But this is our war--I lost my own leader, Bhutto.'

Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, 55, was Welcomed to his job last month by food and power shortages, inflation and the threat of terror attacks. In his first interview with a foreign publication since taking office, Gilani told NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau about his plans to restore order, amend the Constitution to prevent President Pervez Musharraf from dissolving the government, bar unilateral U.S. strikes, restore fired judges to the bench and return Pakistan to the path of economic development.

MOREAU: Your new government is facing a host of problems. What's your priority?

GILANI: Political stability leads to economic stability. My priority will be to control the law-and-order situation in the country, so we have to discourage this extremism and terrorism. That's what is affecting our economy.

What specifically can you do to improve law and order?

We need the help of the entire world, because we are fighting terrorism and extremism, though it is our own war. I lost my own leader, Benazir Bhutto, because of this terrorism and extremism. We need job opportunities and an education system [without] madrassas, where the students are being groomed for the Taliban. Force should be kept in the background [or] it will erode the authority of the government.