ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday he would survive politically and defend democracy in Pakistan.

Speaking on the second anniversary of the assassination of his wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, Zardari suggested he had no intention of resigning after the possibility of corruption charges against his close aides weakened him.
“If anyone casts an evil eye on democracy, we will gouge out their eyes,” he told supporters in Bhutto's hometown of Naudero.
He dismissed speculation he might not survive politically, saying he would swear in a new government after the next election, due by 2013.
Earlier in the day, the killing of a district official and five relatives in the northwest was a reminder of the immense challenges facing Zardari. Police said militants blew up the house of the official, Sarfraz Khan.
The attack in the Kurram region near the Afghan border appeared to be part of a campaign waged by al-Qaeda-linked militants who have spread their reach to cities.
Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks in retaliation for an offensive against a militant stronghold launched in October.
Security has been increased across the country for Ashura, the biggest event on Shi'ite Muslims' calendar and a flashpoint for attacks by militants in recent years.
Violence has intensified since July 2007, when the army cleared out militants from a radical mosque in Islamabad. Victims have included Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide bombing and gun attack after returning home from self-imposed exile.
Zardari is unpopular and militants show no signs of wavering in their bid to topple the government. But many Pakistanis and the military are united in the view that the insurgency must be crushed.
The International Monetary Fund last week gave a vote of confidence in Pakistan's economy, which is in virtual recession, by approving a $1.2 billion loan payment. That could ease some of the pressure on Zardari.
The United States, grappling with an insurgency in Afghanistan, is pushing Pakistan hard to root out militants who plot attacks inside Afghanistan, and has also intensified pilotless drone attacks in northwest Pakistan.
The death toll in the latest drone raid, carried out on Saturday evening in the militant hub of North Waziristan, rose to 13 on Sunday, security officials said.
Pakistan officially objects to the drone strikes, saying they violate its sovereignty and the civilian casualties they sometimes inflict inflame public anger.
But U.S. officials say the strikes are carried out under an agreement with Pakistan that allows its leaders to decry them in public.