Phuket: The confession of lone surviving 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab shows that he was "a young man without much purpose in life", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, pitching for good education and jobs to wean away the youth from "blandishment" of terrorist groups.
Clinton, who just concluded a five-day visit to India and was in Phuket to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting, referred to "the very dramatic trial" of Kasab during an interview with The Nation, a partner of the Asia News Network.
"What I found so interesting about his confession is that he was a young man without much purpose in life, he was in a job he did not find satisfying and was susceptible to the blandishment of terrorist organisations -- this will make you feel strong and powerful, this will give you a meaning and purpose in your life; and he bought into that and joined this group that was trained for the Mumbai attacks," she said.
Listening to the confession on television, 61-year-old US Secretary of State felt "this was not someone who had some deep, overriding ideological commitment; this was somebody who got swept up in it."
"So we want to convey to families and communities across the world that there's a better way. Now, we have to put some meat onto the bone of that statement, we have to make sure people get good education, we have to make sure that the people do have jobs," she said.
These will be part of a more positive alternative to what the "terrorists are selling", Clinton said.