Musharraf spells out three-pronged strategy for crisis

[Naveed Yaseen]

IQBAL MIRZA & ISMAIL DILAWAR
KARACHI (March 10 2009): A placid looking former President, General Pervez Musharraf (Retd), full of pep and radiating unusual confidence suggested a three-point strategy for pulling the country out of the current turmoil at a crowded impromptu press conference arranged by Jawz Communications here on Monday afternoon.

THE THREE INGREDIENTS, WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT, COULD BRING STABILITY: INCLUDE: resolution of disputes among politicians, visible improvement in law and order situation, and last but not the least, revival of economy of the country. If the government is able to tackle these problems successfully, it would earn the gratitude of the people and appreciation from the world, he added.

Although he refused to be dragged into any controversy, particularly offering comments on the performance of the present government but admitted that the country was passing through difficult time and the world is concerned about the situation developing here.

Former President called upon media to exercise restraint and go all out in backing the armed forces and ISI. "It is incumbent on each and every Pakistani to back the army and ISI which are the centre of gravity and need the support of the nation."

To a question whether the escalation in the present confrontation between political parties could result in the imposition of martial law in the country, he preferred to give his own explanation in the following words. "It is the constitutional obligation of Pakistan army not only to stall external threat, but also deal with internal situation if the countrys survival is at stake and because of political failure governance becomes difficult".

Pervez Musharraf said that because of extremism in the country and situation in the North, not only Pakistan was getting a bad name, armed forces and ISI were also at the receiving end. He repeatedly urged that it was the duty of all Pakistanis to rise to the occasion and defend the armed forces and the ISI which are a source of strength and our identity.

Pakistan would be weakened if these two important institutions of the state come under undue pressure and are unnecessarily criticised. Opposing US drone attacks inside Pakistan, Musharraf, the former US ally on "war on terror", said the government itself should expel the terrorist elements from al Qaeda, Uzbekistan and even China to retain a soft image world over.

"During the Olympic Games in China the Chinese government had expressed its fear of a terrorist attack from Chinese terrorists sitting in the Pakistani tribal areas, which is shameful for us," he added. He said this was the responsibility of Pakistani government to root out the foreign terrorist elements from its soil. "I do tell you that these foreigners are there in our tribal areas," he proclaimed.

About the nature of present Indo-Pak relations, the former president said the two nuclear-armed neighbours were necessarily facing "trust deficit" due to misperceptions, lack of information, understanding and most importantly the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Lahore. He said the civil society and media could pressurise the governments to adopt a conciliatory approach and sit on the table talk.

Earlier, briefing the mediapersons about his "impressive" and "satisfactory" visit to India, Musharraf said he had told his hosts in New Delhi that not to malign the Pakistan Army and ISI. According to him the Pakistani spy agency was doing nothing different from Indias RAW or other international intelligence agencies.

To a question the former president said he, if received an offer, would like to be a "useful" president again. When asked to illuminate the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Musharraf said "at present I dont want to drag myself into these issues, but someday, if given an opportunity, I would like to share the details of NRO with the nation".

To a question about Nawaz Sharifs hostile attitude towards him, Musharraf denied outright that he had no enemy and the PML-N chief was himself responsible for his exile after the October 12 military coup in 1999. "Mian sahib should be careful as my active soul is likely to penetrate into him either," he said with laughter. Musharraf, however, stressed the need to avoid an intolerant attitude that, he said, was "unfortunate". When drawn the former army chief blasted the ex-servicemen as a "used cartridge" and useless people.

"They are useless people like a used cartridge and it is below my dignity to talk about them... I am afraid someday I would disclose what they have been doing in the past and what they had been demanding from me," he added. When questioned about the performance of present PPP-led government Musharraf said: "being an army man I do see the effects or the end-result, so lets see how they deal with the present crises".

Asked if he had an intention to join politics the retired army chief refused outright saying that "At the moment Im not joining any political party, nor should I do it... it however depends upon the environment but I have no serious thought on it".

Supporting the Swat agreement, Musharraf said it was good if somebody was convincing Taliban and Maulana Fazlullah to lay down their weapons. He also clarified some media reports that "Shria" was being implemented in Swat, saying that as per agreement it would, rather, be the long-demanded Nizam-e-Adl, which would take place in the hilly valley.

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