WASHINGTON: It is unfair to blame Pakistan’s military and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the attacks in Kabul. Former president Pervez Musharraf made this statement while addressing a press conference barely an hour after he landed in Washington early Thursday morning.
The ISI is working in Pakistan’s interest, and to counter the RAW tactics in the region, Musharraf said, and urged the Pakistani media to support the intelligence agency.
Regarding allegations of the Haqqani network being involved in the attacks on the US embassy in Afghanistan and the ISI’s support for the group, the former general said, “Haqqani sahib”, alluding perhaps to Jalaluddin Haqqani, “is an Afghan citizen and he had no right to use Pakistani territory for any activities that would harm Pakistan”.
Haqqani should either leave Pakistan and go to Afghanistan, or “if he is there, he should stop going back and forth [across the border]”, Musharraf said, adding that former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was pro-Pakistan, and had wanted Islamabad to be part of the reconciliation talks. Pakistan, Musharraf said, does not benefit from Rabbani’s death.
In response to a question about Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signing the strategic partnership alliance, Musharraf said that the KGB, Soviet Union and India have influenced Afghanistan for many years.
Accusing former Afghan intelligence official Amarullah Saleh of being anti-Pakistan and pro-India, he said that Pakistan had offered to train Afghan troops, but Kabul had never responded.
The former president said he did not advocate the ISI having a political wing. He also said that the government of Pakistan should not negotiate with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Musharraf said the TTP were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Pakistanis, burning down girls’ schools and “talking to them shows the government’s weakness”. Musharraf also condemned the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, saying whoever at whatever level was responsible for it, “it was wrong”.
Musharraf dubbed the Balochistan separatist movement “bakwas” (rubbish), saying Pakistan would never break up.
The former army general said he would be meeting influential US senators, including head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin, Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham amongst others, to try and dispel the notion that Pakistan’s army or the ISI were responsible for the Kabul attacks.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2011.
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musharraf zindabad!
@Mina:
i applaud your bold words, and am sure that pakistanis will realize the tremendous benefit pakistan saw under his rule. yes, there were hiccups, but man is capable of mistakes and errors. what separates musharraf from our criminal lot is that his intentions for the country were always clean. its when your interests and the countrys interest diverge (stand up mr zardari and nawaz sharif) that you have a bad ruler. lets leave the allegations and mistakes behind. its time pakistan be ruled by leaders like president musharraf again. and if he can somehow link up with imran khan, all the better. we need both of them to get us out of this mess.
@Apis Nimo:
for what crime?
Pervez Musharraf Zindabad! He is the de facto leader of the country, answering quastions which the current holders of power in Pakistan are too chicken (or too busy looting the country) to answer.
@Amjad: Check for yourself Pakistan debt over the Musharraf era http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/PRM-Policy-Notes/Pakistan-Public-Debt.pdf
Government cooked books and boast about those figures. Reality is a bit different.
@Yousaf: "He talks & world Listen!" Exactly who in the world gave an impression that they are listening to him?
Do not take Musharraf for a fool...through his tough talk and grandiosity, he may appear to be doing the bidding for the Pakistani military but he is actually trying to prepare for a smooth entry in to Pakistan by trying to generate a euphoric feeling. Talk is cheap. It costs him nothng ( actually he gets paid for the bull crap).
Look, no one is denying that Mushurraf did a few things right. Later in his career, he realized the terrorist monster that the ISI had birthed was beginning to attack Pakistan. He had the courage to take on the fanatics of Lal Masjid but it was too little, too late.
What Pakistan needs now is a true visionary who can cut through the lies, delusion, and mass hysteria and bring people together, end religious intolerance, shut down the terrorists, reduce the negative influence of GHQ and ISI, and invest in infrastructure and education. It is MUCH easier said than done. I am just writing but someone has to do this. Whoever does this will be Pakistan's hero. Sadly, the youth of Pakistan are enamored by false idols like Imran Khan and Zaid Hamid who offer nothing but opiates for the masses - populism at its worst, jingoism at its worst, and a lack of courage to fight the real problems of Pakistan.
I hope that in the end Pakistan can really become a successful modern state without the mess Mush. help create. Unfortunately, my country, U.S.A., is partly responsible for backing Mush. when we should have simply said no to him.
It is hard to tell these days who to trust. I really want Pakistan to be a successful country, the people I have met from that country are the most hospitable and warm hearted people I have ever met.
From what I see, the youth of the country are trying to instill change, and hopefully they will understand to not make the same mistakes as their predecessors.
@Moise Are you fooling others or yourself. When Musharraf tookover debt was $38 billion, when he left the debt was $37 billion. He got rid of IMF. The country's total reserves were $600 million and whenhe left the country's reserves stood at $17 billion. Punjab alone had a suplus budget of Rs. 148 billion, while now the Province is under debt of Rs. 350 billion. In addition rupee stayed at 60 against dollar. Now country is under debt of $58 billion. There are countless acheivements in his account, but because of the people like you we choose looters and plunderers. We deserve to be ruled by the mafya.
Mushy Mushy your the Man If you cant do it no one can!
Geo Musharaf
@antanu: I can only say that " Time will tell".
You were not exactly a boy-scout in these matters, General.
an advise from india, our neighbour should prefer enhancing their economy rather than trying to play important role in international politics and expecting aids from US or other companies. I am surprised as I see most of Pakistanis are so much against US & western countries , still they welcome aid from these countries. Pl dont mind , if United States give you aid , how can they expect them to be against them
Amazing to think that Bin Laden, Haqqani Saheb and Maulana Omar, amongst many others, were all in Pakistan during Musharaf's time AND during People Party's reign, and nobody batted an eyelid. Then we all start berating the USA for criticising Pakistan for not doing more! Why did Pakistan let them live comfirtably in Abbotabd and Quetta etc, when they have blood of thousands on their hands, including innocent Pakistanis. To hell with stragic assets... what happened to morality and ethics? Or are we only ever interested in our interests? If you decide to live with snakes, be prepared to be struck any time suddenly. That is just the nature of the beast. Even Mushy Sahib discovered this fact while crossing that bridge near Rawalpindi and passing the petrol station a few weeks later. They're not very people to have as friends and hitmen... being short sighted, blind in one eye and narrow minded, they sometimes can't tell the difference between friend and foe, wahabhi and sharabi, Mushy and Bushy, Karzai and kurzai.
Musharaf, guns and bullets do not beget prosperity. You cannot be a visionary leader and I hope your people see that.
sir, Former president Gen:Pervez Musharraf did excellent job as head of state & must be praised for that.Look at these politicians,what mess have they created in this beautiful country of ours.They are intellectually & financially corrupt to the core .The country has been brought from sublime to the ridiculous,yet they have insatiable appetite for accumulating wealth through unfair means.
222
He calls a terrorist Sahib, Wow!
As per the Musharraf 'separatist movement' in Balochistan is 'bakwas', why has he different views on Kashmir then?
@Babloo: The East Pakistan Sepretatist are called "Bangladeshi's"....i dont know if thats good or bad........
A man with his teenager son passed through a street where women were lamenting loud around a funeral........you go there where no water no food HayeHayeHaye, you go where pitch-dark HayeHayeHaye, you go there where blood-sucking bugs shall litter over your body HayeHayeHaye.......the teen-ager to his father, " abba ji ohhh are they taking him to our house? Such is the state of Pakistani Politicians, Clergy and Aam Adami, "Blind explaining Blind what is Light...!"
Mushy is right!
Sir Parvez Musharraf is being taken extremely seriously by the international community because he is bravely defending Pakistan sitting in London. Although Imran Khan seemed to be the new messiah for the liberal youth of Pakistan for quite some time, there is a new consciousness emerging that only Sir Musharraf can bring meaningful change by locking up all religiously inclined folks in different mosques across Pakistan and making them offers they can't refuse.
@True Pakistani: Dear, Mr Mussharaf was unchallenged ruler of this country for eight long years. What did he do for the nation? did he (try to) root out corruption, improve literacy, health care, governance or anything? There was no load shedding in the country as the IPPs were running on US aid. He had ample time to change the destiny of this nation, but he did not, so please don't try the tested options and look for new ones. Thanks
whenever US pak relations get worse Musharraf's lecture demand increases :)
@Babloo: There is no Interpol warrant issued for him. All the talk of that few months back are now forgotten in PAK.
first of all we need to be clear that haqqani network is also trying to destabilize pakistan and we should finish it rather then support it. Our media should also support ISI and military rather then criticizing them all the time, for the sake of national security.
Haqqani sahib wow. That says it all.
I am still snooping around the archives to dig out what is this grip Haqqani has on PAK, beside assets theory. He probably knows too much that appeasing him is the better options?
Mysh is trying to get a MRO in Pakistan via the US Watch out., (Musharaff reconcilation ordinance)
"sahib" for Jalaludin ??? holy god, and "Bakwaas" for Baloochis, you are really living in your own cocoon, man. dreaming to come back and lead the country into a full collapse and disintegration !
This is the same person who has created this miss in the country... Who have created suicide bombers after killing thousand children in LaL Masjid... Those who say that this person should be listened again,, should go to a doctor...
I still remember the last words of his farewell speech, "Pakitan ka Allah he hafiz", that now seems to be so true!
@Babloo: such separatist movements exist in Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal etc. in India also. Should we Indians accept their claim and disintegrate the country? Kashmir will also been gone then.So, compelled by your bias towards Pakistan, don't give a chance to other countries like US to disintegrate India. Mind you, if US is having India in a bear hug to counter Chinese might,and if succeeded they may embrace other countries to dominate India. If US can not tolerate the rise of China, how they are going to tolerate India who can challenge them after the fall of China? Blind hate and bias only revert back to the proponents. Come to your senses. Best way India can Challenge both CHINA and US is to form a partnership with Pakistan apart froom other regional powers. This is the right to go all out and support Pakistan. This will not only make Pakistanis grateful towards India but ensure that they proceed in right direction. As a big brother we have accommodate them without showing big brotherly attitude. But the problem is that both sides have people like your mindset who are not prepared to forget the past and living in the past is like living in hell
".....Pakistan had offered to train Afghan troops...."
On what basis?? The Afghans NEVER lost a war in their History. The Pakistanis NEVER won a war in their History. WHO SHOULD TRAIN WHOM?
well we need to innovate a punishment for this man... death penalty ain't enough...
My Goodness!! He is treated as a President of Pakistan and talks as a President of Pakistan. What a MAN he is. I really wish him to see my president.
He talks & world Listen!
Great Leader who even out of Office is the Best Representative for Pakistani State.
Well Done!. You represent the true voice of People of Pakistan on all important forums.
Mush is preparing some support in the US, so he can enter Pakistan via backdoor. He is a fugitive from law and must face the Pakistani courts.
So that brings us to the question - if this group were to launch action against India - would the ex-General also consider that "using Pakistan's territory for wrong activities" ?
Trying to be relavent. I guess he forgot his role in this whole mess.
Musharraf always reads India's scripts against Paksiatn very well and gives befitting response to.
Indeed a great leader - with vision, deep analysis, and courage. Policymakers must follow him. His entry in politics is keeping my hope on Pakistan alive. God bless you my dear leader.
US should arrest Musharraf when he is in USA.
Why is a former dictator giving pointers on correct politics?! This is like North Korea giving advice on democracy!
Secondly, why isn't he in jail?
What respect given to Haqqani! I can clearly see him calling OBL- "Osama Sahab", making him comfortable in his new home in Abottabad.
Who is asking to give opinions on politics? Let him retire in exile. He has no hope in Pakistan. He is a criminal.
So Baluchi seperatists are "bakwaas". So what were East Pakistan seperatists ?
And why're you using titles such as "Sahib" for a person like Jalaluddin Haqqani?
Only Leader who can speak and being listened seriously by International Community
Completely agree with Mr. Musharraf.
Even out of office he defends this country with great vigour unlike other so called leaders on offer. We need him back as President ASAP.
APML must win the next elections to save Pakistan and to maintain cordial relations with all countries.
The vision of PERVEZ MUSHAARF for Pakistan and specially the Taliban Crisis must always be kept in view before making any policy.