Musharraf refutes charges against ISI

WASHINGTON: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has rejected allegations that elements from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had supported the Taliban over the years, saying that such accusations were unhelpful in the fight against militants.

“It is absolutely wrong to say that the ISI is still connected to the Taliban. I can give proof that the Pakistan Army has suffered over 2,500 deaths for which al Qaeda and the Taliban were responsible,” he said during a speaking tour of the US.

He admitted that he expected serious repercussions from Taliban elements on his possible return to Pakistan, because he had taken stringent action against them. While acknowledging that the army was unlikely to welcome him back, he said he wanted to return “through the mandate of the people.”

He also scoffed at being compared to current political leaders, especially Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif, adding that all elected governments have failed the country.

“The important thing for an elected government is to deliver to the people and to the state. If that is not happening, then it’s a problem,” Musharraf remarked.

“Unfortunately, the civil governments have never performed. And I repeat,  never performed in their history,” he added.

Referring to cases against him, he said that despite serious allegations, there were no cases against him in any court of Pakistan. Out of the many cases filed by the  PML-N, some have already fizzled out, while the rest were politically motivated. He vowed to defend all politically-inspired cases.

During other appearances before the US audiences, Musharraf criticised the response of President Asif Ali Zardari and the civilian government to floods that affected 21 million people.

When inquired about the US drone attacks in Pakistan, he stated, “Drone attacks violate

Pakistan’s sovereignty and have caused too many civilian deaths. I always suggested that the drones should be handed over to Pakistan.”

He also declared the statement of former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali regarding Musharraf’s endeavours to have his portrait imprinted on currency notes as a sheer joke, adding that Jamali was either delirious or  was overwhelmed by Nawaz Sharif.

Source: The Express Tribune

Taliban – Afghan govt talks show US weakness: Musharraf

TEXAS: Former President Pervez Musharraf has termed the talks between Taliban and Afghan officials, a weakness of the United States as thousands of innocent Afghan could be saved had these talks been nine back.

Musharraf, while addressing the Asian Society Forum in Texas, said that had the world community recognise the Taliban government, thousands of innocent Afghans would not have been killed.

He said that American support towards the talks between Afghan officials and Taliban shows the weakness of the American policy launched nine years back, although moderate Taliban could be brought into the mainstream through the talks.

Musharraf made an appeal to Pakistanis settled in foreign countries to help him in taking the country out of difficulties. He said that Pakistan is facing a lack of leadership and he feels he can be the only one who can take the country out of troubled waters.

Source: Pak Tribune

Pervez Musharraf Seeks Support from Pakistani American Community

By Kalyani Giri

HOUSTON: His inherent faith unmistakable, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf began his speech with a benediction to Allah. Then, dapper in a dark suit instead of his trademark general’s regalia, he announced the formation of his new political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), and delineated his strategy for a triumphant re-emergence in that country in time for the 2013 elections. Talking to a diverse audience at a luncheon hosted by the Asia Society at the Omni Hotel on October 19, the former military leader who is in the city this week to woo the support of the largely affluent local Pakistani American community, said that Pakistan did not lack resources or potential to stand on its own feet; rather, he said that it was consistent failure in leadership that had brought that country down.

“We need thought and action to unify bureaucracy, the military, and the people,” said Musharraf, who came into power in a non-violent military coup in 1999 and led Pakistan for eight years until he resigned under impeachment pressure in 2008. “When I come in with a mandate for the people, I can have the legitimacy that I did not previously have. Because I wore a uniform, the world saw me as a dictator, which I was not,” he added. He said that he was cognizant of the rocky uphill struggle to victory, if any, but hoped to win the trust of the people, particularly the youth of Pakistan who are mired in “despondency and hopelessness, and yearn for change”. And that change would be democracy, he added.

This week, Musharraf met with the community at private and public gatherings peppered all over this city. His itinerary also included visits with former US president George H. W. Bush, and local socialite, political activist, and former honorary consul general to Pakistan and Morocco, Joanne Herring, whose support he hoped to garner. Aside from financial backing for his campaign, he reiterated that the influential Pakistani community in the diaspora is a valuable resource in helping to get him back in office. He has been visiting many cities within the US and Canada that boast large Pakistani communities.

Yet Pakistan, reeling in the throes of crippling poverty, flood relief, an internal war against extremists, ineffective governance, and a host of other significant problems, may very well be a minefield to Musharraf   who had already his shot at governance and failed. His re-entering public office in that embattled country seem at the very least, remote, as he has lost credibility and will have a challenge on hand convincing the people that he has the solutions to put the country back on track, observers say. During his presidency, through the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance he granted amnesty to politicians and bureaucrats accused of corruption and other crimes, another black mark against him. And adding to his woes are criminal cases initiated against him in Pakistani courts and the possibility of assassination if he returns to the country of his birth. Much of his jockeying to be in the running will have to be done long distance and by proxy.

Musharraf deems himself a “man of war but a man for peace” and sees his role as a crusader eradicating illiteracy and poverty. He wants to invest in the youth by providing them with vocational skills. He will work toward increasing export, fostering a stable socio-economic climate and controlling the fiscal deficit, he said.

Addressing the thorny issue of Afghanistan and the Taliban, Musharraf said that after 9/11, Pakistan was criticized for not doing enough in the war against terrorism.

“The misconception is that Pakistan is the problem. They may be coming into Pakistan, they have sanctuaries in Pakistan, but most are in Afghanistan,” he said. “Negative handling of Afghanistan began long before, in 1979 when the Soviets invaded and the world ignored the plight of 4 million refugees in that region. Now we cannot afford to quit before bringing a legitimate stable government to Afghanistan, or it will cost the world heavily,” he said.

In India, extremism among Muslim youth is on the rise and developing excessively, observed Musharraf.

“We need to adopt a holistic approach and neutralize the situation without breaking links with Indian Muslims,” he added.

India and Pakistan have been on a confrontation course for 60 years and extremists and terrorists are fueling dissent because they do not want peace between the two countries, he said.

“Punishing Pakistan with counter attacks are irresponsible and war will be inevitable. We must stop the hysteria and leaders on both sides must continue with cogent dialogue,” said Musharraf.

For Musharraf, politics is greater than self.

“For those that love Pakistan, we cannot let go because we will become international orphans and lose our identity. Only progress and development will ensure the wellbeing of my people of Pakistan,” he said.

When asked about Musharraf’s chances at the polls, well-known local businessman Ghulam Bombaywala smiled and said:

“You never know. It’s too early to predict.”

Source: Indo-American News

Pervez Musharraf at Asia Society Texas – Outlines Election Strategy

HOUSTON, October 19, 2010 – Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who earlier this month announced he was forming a new political party and would seek the presidency in 2013, held himself up as the only figure on the Pakistani political scene capable of delivering the country from “the darkness that it faces today.”

“All the political alternatives available have been tried and failed,” he told an audience of 140 at a luncheon address hosted by AsiaSociety Texas Center and the Greater Houston Partnership.

He specifically attacked former President Nawaz Sharif, the man whom Musharraf replaced in 1999 following a bloodless military coup and who is vying to return to power.

“Having taken us down the drain, he wants to take us again down the drain,” Musharraf said.”Therefore, like any patriotic Pakistani, I feel we must not allow that.”

The 67-year-old former president offered few specifics on policies he might follow if elected, beyond promising to revive Pakistan’s economy. He did provide a glimpse of his election strategy, saying he would target the 60 percent of Pakistanis who do not vote.

“This 60 percent comprises educated middle-class Pakistanis, young people, women, and ethnic minorities,” he said. “If you can bring them into the political fray, even 25 percent of them, you would bring about a change in the political culture. That is what I intend doing.”

Regaining power as a civilian, through election, would give him the full legitimacy he lacked the first time around, he said.

Musharraf devoted the first two-thirds of his talk not to current politics but to an uncompromising defense of his and his country’s role in battling Islamic extremism in the region. “We are the victims of religious militancy, not the perpetrators,” he said.

He revisited “three blunders” that he said have contributed to the terrorist threat emanating today from Afghanistan and western Pakistan. He pointed the finger of blame primarily at the United States and the West, first for arming and encouraging the mujahideen, many of them foreigners, to wage “jihad” in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupiers, a move that introduced religious militancy into that country. Worse, after the Soviets beat a retreat, the West abandoned the war-ravaged country.

“So the first blunder, in 1989, was abandoning the place without any rehabilitation or resettlement, [which] gave rise to al Qaeda and then the Taliban,” he said.

He defended his decision to recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, a move that put him at odds with the United States. In recognizing the Taliban he aimed to “change them from within.” Western failure to follow that course constituted the second blunder.

Musharraf took strong issue with critics who say Pakistan has not done enough to battle al Qaeda and the Taliban. Joining the post-Sept. 11 coalition to fight terrorism was in Pakistan’s self-interest, he said.

“I want to underline this because there are now expressions in the West and the United States that we are not doing enough or that our heart is not in the issue. Wrong, sir.  Nobody in Pakistan would like to have Talibanization of Pakistan.”

He defended his strategy of trying to “peel the Pashtuns from the Taliban” in 2002 and 2003. “It could have been easily done” had the United States embraced that approach, he said. Failure to push for a political solution when the coalition had the upper hand militarily was the third blunder.

He summarized the threats facing Pakistan today as al-Qaeda, who exist “in small numbers” in the western tribal areas; the Pakistani Taliban, who are getting bolder and spreading their brand of militancy beyond the frontier; and growing numbers of ex-mujahideen traveling to Kashmir to fight the Indian army. He also expressed concern about growing Islamic extremism among the youth in India. “The Indian government needs to look into that,” he said.

He voiced concern that the United States would withdraw from Afghanistan before a stable government was in place.

“Quitting without doing that is not an option,” he said. “This is my conclusion, this is what needs to be understood, so that we don’t go and commit a fourth blunder which will cost our region and the world very heavily.”

Reported by Fritz Lanham

Watch the video of President Musharraf’s address at Asia Society Texas by clicking here.

Source: Asia Society

Charlie Wilson’s War Part 2?

Pakistan’s Musharraf is launching a long-shot, long-distance bid to be president again

By ZAIN SHAUKHOUSTON CHRONICLE

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hopes to retake the leadership of his country, and he is actively campaigning — in Texas.

The former president of Pakistan has a set of Houston meetings planned this week with wealthy Pakistani-Americans and corporate leaders.

He is scheduled to meet today with former President George H.W. Bush and Joanne King Herring, a longtime advocate for development in Afghanistan and Pakistan who was played by actress Julia Roberts in the film Charlie Wilson’s War.

Musharraf, a London resident since he relinquished his presidency in 2008, announced this month the creation of a new political party and a plan to run in Pakistan’s 2013 parliamentary elections.

But he has kicked off his campaign in the U.S., a decision that could say more about the perceived influence of the Pakistani-American community in cities such as Houston than Musharraf’s chances for success, experts say.

Musharraf said he believes connecting with Pakistanis in America will give him enough backing — financially and politically — to carry him to victory in Pakistan.

“I do need financial support, and I would ask the American Pakistani diaspora to support me … because I see darkness in Pakistan,” Musharraf said. “Because I don’t see a political party or a leader in Pakistan to be able to tackle the problems that Pakistan is facing.”

While Musharraf enjoys backing from the Pakistani-American elite, experts say he will be hard-pressed to develop a political base within his country and likely does not stand a chance against more established parties.

He is also in no position to campaign within Pakistan. Safety is a concern after multiple assassination attempts during his presidency, and he would likely face prosecution in connection with several criminal cases currently pending in Pakistani courts, experts said.

Still, Musharraf’s interest in wooing deep-pocketed Pakistani-Americans is revealing, said Walter Andersen, associate director of the South Asia program at John Hopkins University.

Not only do Pakistani-Americans play a role in financially supporting candidates, but their meetings in America are covered by Pakistani news media and seem to give politicians the idea that they are gaining traction, Andersen said.

Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif also visited U.S. communities while campaigning, he said.

“Whether it works is not important,” Andersen said. “The perception among them (politicians) is that it works.”

Wide-ranging itinerary

U.S. communities don’t play a visible role in Pakistani elections, but Musharraf could stand to gain from his current North America tour, said Jamal Elias, an expert on contemporary Pakistan and chairman of the religious studies department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Musharraf’s itinerary will include stops in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Toronto. He visited Dallas last week.

“Appearing statesman-like is going to help him in Pakistan,” Elias said. “It’s not going to build a constituency, but it may help him.”

There are more than 75,000 people of Pakistani origin in the Houston area, which includes more than 800 doctors, executives in the energy and information technology industries and scores of business owners, according to the Consulate of Pakistan in Houston.

Many of them have in the past contributed financially to political parties in Pakistan and will likely do so again, said M.J. Khan, a former Houston city councilman and member of the Pakistani community.

Khan said he does not send money to Pakistani political candidates, but knows U.S. residents in Houston and elsewhere who do. “They’re an educated community, and they send a lot of resources to Pakistan,” Khan said. “So I think every politician in Pakistan feels the Pakistani-American community is an important group to reach out to.”

Tactics questioned

Some community members – including Sajjad Burki, president of a Houston chapter for a political party headed by Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan – were not sure of the former president’s legitimacy as a candidate. Burki questioned Musharraf’s campaign tactics and priorities.

“It doesn’t make sense for him to be creating a political party and campaigning abroad rather than campaigning in Pakistan,” he said.

Herring, who is hoping to build support for Musharraf’s candidacy, said she planned to back him because of his support for her development efforts in Afghanistan.

“I think that Musharraf is interested in my plan,” Herring said. “I know he is. He supports it.”

Seeks ‘legitimacy’

Musharraf, a retired general, said he hopes a possible election to office will give him “the legitimacy that maybe I didn’t have in the past” as someone who had seized control of the government in a 1999 military coup.

He spent much of a luncheon Tuesday discussing the threats to Pakistan created by instability and lack of development in Afghanistan. Asked how he would solve that and a host of other challenges, Musharraf paused and smiled at his audience.

“First of all, get me elected,” he said.

zain.shauk@chron.com

Source: Chron – Houston and Texas News

No regrets over Lal Masjid: Musharraf

DALLAS: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has said that those who were killed in Islamabad’s Lal Masjid were terrorists and insisted that no woman was killed during that operation, adding that out of 150 only 94 terrorists, including two foreign nationals, were killed in the July 2007 encounter.

The former president was addressing a public meeting of All Pakistan Muslim League in Dallas on Saturday. The former general dwelt at length on Pakistan’s political situation and the issues of Dr Qadeer and Taliban.

Musharraf clarified that he had never apologised for the Lal Masjid episode. According to him, Lal Masjid was a “den of terrorists” and as a head of state it was his duty to restore the writ of the state. He said that the government tried its best to settle the Masjid issue peacefully. “We also invited the Imam of Ka’aba for mediation, but all in vain. Since, we never wanted to turn Pakistan into a Taliban state, we took action”.

“I have apologised on the issue of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which I had to accept on the advice of my political advisers.”

The former president said that when he was in uniform, people called him a dictator. Pointing at himself, he said that “dictatorship lies in the brain, and it is a mindset and uniform has got nothing to do with it”.

Referring to Dr Qadeer’s confession, the former dictator termed the nuclear scientist “a liar”, adding that Dr Qadeer “sold” nuclear secrets to three countries and he (Musharraf) had valid proof.

Denying that his government had harassed the nuclear scientist, he said that whatever Dr Qadeer had said on television he had done so voluntarily and he was not forced to do so, said Musharraf.

“I saved Dr Qadeer because he is a national hero, and I also consider him national hero,” he said, adding: “It is also a fact that he (Qadeer) made mistakes.”

The public meeting was also addressed by Coordinator of APML’s Dallas coordinator Javed Siddiqui. As many as 500 people attended the public meeting.

Earlier, General Musharraf was received by party leaders Ameer Sukhano, Dr Hassan, Dr Tasnim Agha, Naeem, Nadeem Akhter Azeem Siddiqui Tanvir Malik, Dr Arjumand, Khalil Qureshi Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Nadem Chaudhry and others.

Source: Express Tribune

U.S. Should Not Withdrawal Quickly From Afghanistan, Musharraf Tells Seminar Attendees

By Joseph Straw

An abrupt U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will bring the same fallout as its 1989 departure after a proxy war with the Soviet Union: instability with ripples of violent extremism around the globe, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said during his keynote address Thursday before the ASIS International 56th Annual Seminar and Exhibits in Dallas.

“We are at the threshold of making a decision of whether to quit or not to quit in Afghanistan,” Musharraf told a packed hall at the Dallas Convention Center. “I have told you about the blunder of the past. I pray to God that we do not make another blunder.”

Musharraf, a former general in the Pakistani army, led his nation from 2001 through 2008, serving as a key ally in the post-9-11 U.S. led war on terrorism. He currently lives in self-imposed exile in England, but earlier this month announced the formation of a new political party, and plans to run again for the presidency at home.

Despite billions in U.S. humanitarian aid to Pakistan in the wake of the July floods that affected an estimated 21 million, recent polling indicates that 59 percent of Pakistanis view the United States as their enemy. Musharraf traced the sentiment back to the departure at the end of the Soviet-Afghan war, in which Pakistan supported Mujahideen rebels along with the United States.

“People in the streets of Pakistan thought we had been used and betrayed,” he said, emphasizing that animosity toward the U.S. does not imply sympathy for Islamic extremists.

The poll, however, conducted by the Pew Research Center and released in July, found that more than half of Pakistanis have a favorable view of al Qaeda, and 65 percent a favorable view of the Taliban.

In Afghanistan, Musharraf traces the persistent political instability and violence to the coalition’s installment in 2001 of Northern Alliance members—tribal Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras—in government, to the exclusion of Pashtuns, in part because the Taliban consisted exclusively of Pashtuns. Musharraf said he repeats again and again: “All Taliban are Pashtuns. But not all Pashtuns are Taliban.”

Key to success in Afghanistan is engagement of Pashtuns and their democratic inclusion in government as a majority. That requires bargaining from a position of strength, which the U.S.-led coalition currently lacks.

After his speech Musharraf told Security Management that achieving that position requires direct engagement of Pashtun tribal maliks, or chieftains. With their allegiance, armed Pashtun tribes may be enlisted in the fight.

Addressing counterterrorism, Musharraf—who vehemently opposes the current U.S. military and intelligence operations just inside his country—compared the capture or killing of single terrorists as plucking leaves from a tree, and the elimination of entire terrorist groups to sawing off branches. Elimination of terrorism, he said, requires a holistic approach that incorporates a military element, but focuses on three root issues: existing national political grudges, sub-national conflicts, and the persistent lack of education and economic opportunity.

Top priorities should Musharraf return to power include jump starting the Pakistani economy and fighting terror, which he said are interrelated.

“We have to turn around the economy. The backbone of any socioeconomic development is the economy…The economy means drawing investment from abroad, and investment doesn’t come when there’s turmoil in the country. We won’t be able to succeed in any direction if we don’t defeat terrorism and extremism,” Musharraf said.

In introducing Musharraf, ASIS President Joseph R. Granger, CPP, security director of the United Space Alliance, noted TIME magazine’s assessment that as president of Pakistan Musharraf held the most dangerous job in the world. While two attempts on Musharraf’s life have been publicly reported, Musharraf toldSecurity Management that there have been more. Should he return to Pakistan, he does so a marked man. This week rival Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) President Talal Bugti, alleging crimes against humanity, placed a bounty on Musharraf’s head worth $1 billion and 100 acres of farmland.

Asked about the danger, Musharraf remarked lightheartedly that he could use the protection of ASIS’s membership. Taking a more serious tone, he told Security Management that he has accepted the constant threat of a violent death.

“Maybe I’ve got thick skin, but I can face dangers. And for the sake of the country we love so much—everyone loves his own country—dangers and risks have to be taken,” Musharraf said. “Where there is no risk there is no gain, as they say. I believe in that.”

Source: Security Management

Interview with Pervez Musharraf

Read the Transcript
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MARCO WERMAN: Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan, is in the middle of a major military offensive against the Taliban. The Pakistani army is trying to take control of the militant stronghold of South Waziristan along the Afghan border. Army officials say 16 soldiers have died so far while more than 100 militants have been killed. Pakistan’s former president, General Pervez Musharraf is visiting the US right now and came to our studio. I asked him if the offensive in South Waziristan is the solution to Pakistan’s problems with the Taliban.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF: It’s not the solution but it’s one part of the solution. I’ve always said that solution lies in a triple directional strategy – military, political, and socio-economic. So the military part is being executed well after having dealt with Swat and [INDISCERNIBLE] they’ve now gone to South Waziristan. So I think it’s good – the using of concentrated force in a peace [INDISCERNIBLE] objective.

WERMAN: And do you think the operation Swat was effective?

MUSHARRAF: Yes I think it was successful.

WERMAN: But recently there were 40 killed in a suicide attack and so it raises the issue, it’s one thing to take a region; it’s another thing to hold it.

MUSHARRAF: Well even if you hold it that doesn’t mean that you can guarantee that no suicide attack will take place. I know that the law enforcement agency, the army’s opening a [INDISCERNIBLE] there. It will be there. So it will be held. But that doesn’t mean that no bullet will be fired by any terrorist. Because if a person is there to carry out a suicide attack it’s really very difficult to avoid it.

WERMAN: There’s been a slow steady drumbeat of Afghan officials along with NATO accusing Pakistan of not doing enough to stem the movement of militants sympathetic to al-Qaeda and the Taliban across the border into Afghanistan. Why has this offensive in South Waziristan taken so long and why didn’t you engage in an equally forceful offensive in the same area?

MUSHARRAF: It was I who moved the two divisions in North and South Waziristan back and I think immediately up to [INDISCERNIBLE]. Who has been catching all these al-Qaeda people? Who did that? It was in my time. Hundreds of them have been caught. So how do you say that we hadn’t operated? They are there since long and they have been operating there.

WERMAN: So why, again, why the need for another offensive? Why this upsurge in violence?

MUSHARRAF: Yeah it’s because all these eight years there has been an upsurge of Taliban activity. A Taliban who were finished after 9/11. They had an upsurge in Afghanistan. [PH] Mula Omar and all his [INDISCERNIBLE] are reestablished in Afghanistan in the same region from where they dominated or they controlled 90 percent of Afghanistan. So after 2004 – 05 there was an upsurge. We saw the downward trend in al-Qaeda because of Pakistan’s actions and an upward trend, swing, in the Taliban support. And therefore now the situation is al-Qaeda is down. Who did this? Obviously Pakistan forces operating in Pakistan, in [INDISCERNIBLE] and mountains. But the Taliban upsurge has come about in Afghanistan and that has a great impact in Pakistan because there are now Pakistani Taliban in South and North Waziristan much stronger links with across the border and they are acting. So this is now a different ballgame all together.

WERMAN: Now as a former military leader – I mean you were a military leader who came to power in a coup. You stepped down as head of the army in 2007. You recognized at the time the merit of a civilian government in Pakistan. Now in Afghanistan yesterday a runoff election was announced to take place on November 7^th. What is at stake for Pakistan with this vote in Afghanistan?

MUSHARRAF: Well I don’t think it directly affects Pakistan.

WERMAN: You don’t?

MUSHARRAF: It does affect Afghanistan.

WERMAN: But what affects Afghanistan, affects Pakistan ultimately.

MUSHARRAF: Well yes indirectly, indirectly. I think one would require if we are to win in Afghanistan we have to have a credible, legitimate government in Afghanistan. And that is not the case. But Pakistan’s interest is in a legitimate, acceptable government to all the ethnic minorities of Afghanistan for the sake of Afghanistan because if we can have better peace in Afghanistan it will be of advantage to Pakistan certainly.

WERMAN: You’ve been quite critical of President Hamid Karzai. What happens, in your opinion, to the region if he is president again? If he wins this runoff election.

MUSHARRAF: Well I think I’ve been critical, yes, because of certain observations that I had in his criticizing Pakistan, in his supporting elements who are instrumental in carrying out terrorism in Baltistan. So there are certain things that I disagree with him. These were my observations and my accusations against him. So I used to criticize him on that. The other thing is that he used to throw the entire blame on Pakistan – that whatever is happening in Afghanistan is because of Pakistan. And I think the world must understand that this is absolutely the opposite. Whatever is happening in Pakistan is because of Afghanistan. The same [INDISCERNIBLE], the same Taliban, resurgence of that force in Afghanistan.

WERMAN: But in fact it’s very hard to say where these militants are coming from. They could be coming form Pakistan as well as Afghansitan. So both countries are in fact … .

MUSHARRAF: No they are coming … . No actually there’s no doubt at all. Absolutely. I have no doubt at all. Taliban under [INDISCERNIBLE] control 90% of Afghanistan. There is support to them in Pakistan. There are safe havens in Pakistan. And there are Taliban elements of Pakistan also. But if anyone thinks that they are all coming from Pakistan this is what the misperception that exists in Untied States and this misperception is fanned by people like President Karzai unfortunately. And this is misleading the world.

WERMAN: Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan. Thank you very much for your time.

MUSHARRAF: Thank you.

WERMAN: Hear more about Pervez Musharraf’s current US visit and about his plans for a return to Pakistan at our website. You’ll also find a link to the former Pakistani leader’s newly launched Facebook page. It’s all at http://www.theworld.org

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Source: The World

Musharraf: More Troops in Afghanistan

By CHRIS CUOMO, CHRIS STRATHMANN and KATE McCARTHY [ABC News]

Former Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf said that President Obama should have complied “yesterday” with Gen. Stanley A. McChyrstal’s recommendation to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

“I think you should take it immediately. You should have taken it yesterday,” Musharraf told ABC News in an exclusive interview.

Musharraf made his comments following the leak of McChrystal’s security assessment that called for additional U.S. troops to fight in Afghanistan. In the assessment, McChrystal said more troops alone cannot achieve success “but will enable implementation of the new strategy. Conversely, inadequate resources will likely result in failure.”

In February, Obama authorized an additional 21,000 troops be deployed to Afghanistan and now he must decide if the situation requires even more.

Musharraf said he “absolutely” believes there need to be more troops in Afghanistan.

Sending more troops could also mean an increase in casualties, something Musharraf says the United States should be prepared for.

“We must avoid, as much as possible, casualties. But when soldiers move and armies act, casualties will be there, and we should accept casualties,” Musharraf said.

“We have to win,” the former general said. “And quitting is not an option.”

Musharraf even proposed what he called a “drastic” measure to secure the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“As far as I’m concerned, we should mine it so that people can’t go across,” Musharraf said.

While he acknowledged that mines are a controversial weapon, Musharraf argued that it is an “unusual war.”

Musharraf dismissed Afghanistan’s long history of defeating foreign armies, including the Soviet army in the 1980s.

“There’s always a first time,” Musharraf said.

He argued the United States could succeed where the Soviets failed because “the whole world” was helping insurgents fight the Soviets.

At another point, the former Pakistani general said, “It was you who invaded and came into Afghanistan, so you better face it now and win there.”

When asked what the consequences would be if the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, Musharraf said it would result in destabilizing Afghanistan. He said the country would become the center of all al Qaeda “sanctuaries” and consequently could extend its influence into Pakistan and possibly even India.

Musharraf said he believes Obama has “intentions of improvement” since taking office.

“He’s saying the right things. He wants to focus more on Afghanistan, compared to Iraq, which is the right strategy at this moment,” Musharraf said. “He wants to reach out to the Muslims.”

Musharraf added that “we need to see [results] on ground.

Returning to Pakistan

Musharraf came to power in 1999 following a military coup and resigned in 2008 amid threats of impeachment after he removed a Supreme Court judge from the bench and imposed emergency rule on the country.

The former president said he “will return to Pakistan” despite the possibility of facing trial as soon as he sets foot in the country.

“Well, these are realities which one has to face. But however, I am very sure of one thing — that whatever I have done till now, constitutionally and legally, there is no charge against me,” Musharraf said.

When asked if he would try to return to power, Musharraf would not answer the question directly.

“Well, I give thought to what is happening in Pakistan. And I give thought to what the people of Pakistan are desiring, and I also give thought to whether I can do anything for Pakistan,” Musharraf said. “Collectively, I have to make a decision based on all these three elements.”

The former general, who is currently living in exile in London, is prohibited by law from running for political office until this December, two years after he took off his military uniform.

Should Musharraf decide to return to politics, he likely would face Nawaz Sharif, a political opponent and someone the former president called “abrasive” and confrontational.

“He has never been on good terms with any president of Pakistan, so I don’t know what kind of a mental make-up he has. But the man is abrasive against the other power brokers of Pakistan,” Musharraf said.

The former general even went so far as to call Sharif a “closet Taliban.”

“Even on Pakistan television these days, talk shows are going on saying that he has met Osama bin Laden five times — five times before 9/11 — and he has been financed by Osama bin Laden,” Musharraf said. “Then the other element is that he never speaks against terrorism and extremism.”

But when pressed for proof of Sharif’s meetings with bin Laden, Musharraf said he personally could not offer any.

“No, I can’t do that, but there are certainly there are people who vouch for it, who were present there,” Musharraf said.

Source: ABC News

Danger for Pakistan, India if US quits Afghanistan: Musharraf

* Washington must immediately send more troops to Afghanistan, be ready for casualties
* Calls Nawaz ‘closet Taliban’, says PML-N chief never speaks against terrorism, extremism

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Pakistan and India will face great danger from Al Qaeda if the United States pulls out of Afghanistan, former president Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Musharraf said a US pullout would result in an unstable Afghanistan.

“The country [Afghanistan] will become the centre of all Al Qaeda sanctuaries and consequently could extend its influence into Pakistan and possibly even India,” Musharraf said.

Troops: To a question on the US consideration of sending more troops to Afghanistan, he said US President Obama should have complied with Gen Stanley McChyrstal’s recommendation “yesterday”. “I think you should take it immediately. You should have taken it yesterday,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf said he “absolutely” believed there needed to be more troops in Afghanistan. But he said sending more troops could mean an increase in casualties, something the US should be prepared for.

“We must avoid casualties, as much as possible. But when soldiers move and armies act, casualties will be there, and we should accept casualties,” he said.

He said the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be mined, a proposition he termed “drastic”.

“As far as I’m concerned, we should mine it so that people can’t go across,” Musharraf said.

He called PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif “abrasive” and confrontational.

“He has never been on good terms with any president of Pakistan,” he said, adding that Nawaz was a “closet Taliban”.

“Even on Pakistan Television these days, talk shows are going on saying that he has met Osama Bin Laden five times – five times before 9/11 – and he has been financed by Osama,” Musharraf said. “Then the other element is that he never speaks against terrorism and extremism.”

Source: Daily Times