Only terrorist camps targeted: No use of Pakistan bases: President
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Monday that the US-led military strikes against the Taliban would be short and targeted to eliminate the terrorist camps of the Al-Qaeda organization.
“I am reasonably sure that military action is carefully targeted which is expected to be short and will lead to a political dispensation in Afghanistan,” he stated.
Speaking at a news conference here, Gen Musharraf supported the action against the Taliban, which, according to him, was inevitable due to “unwise policies of the Kabul regime”.
He made it clear that no airbase of Pakistan was used by the US-led coalition to launch strikes. “We did provide them airspace, logistics and shared information with them as was earlier promised by Pakistan.” All strikes, he said, were launched from the US aircraft carrier, Gulf states and some of the Central Asian States.
The president did not adopt an apologetic posture to support the air strikes. Rather, he was forthcoming in the support of the Americans and said that nobody could do anything to convince the Taliban to give up their hardened stand. “And therefore results and consequences are before us.”
The president forcefully condemned the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and said that Pakistan would continue to cooperate with the international community to combat terrorism in all its forms.
Pakistan, the president pointed out, was requested for support to combat terrorism and the focus was Osama bin Laden. “While we are supporting the removal of terrorist camps and removal of Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan, we will continue to make efforts to bring peace to that country and our efforts at this stage will help the international community,” he claimed.
About the post-action political dispensation, Gen Musharraf said that three things would have to be kept in mind once the objectives of combating terrorism were achieved in Afghanistan. These things, he said, were post-action rehabilitation of Afghanistan, revival of political dispensation and restoration of law and order by taking into account the demographic and ethnic considerations of Afghanistan.
The president also tried to remove the impression created by the international media that four cities — Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif — were attacked. “Only the strategic areas, command and controls and hideouts of terrorists - which could be in the vicinity these cities - were being attacked and not the civilian population,” he said, adding that he had been given assurances by the US-led coalition that only the military bases and terrorists camps were being targeted.
Asked when these air strikes would end, Gen Musharraf said he did not have an exact idea, however, “if there is a correct planning and the knowledge of targets, it should not take much time to achieve the objectives.”
“But I have made amply clear to President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair that Northern Alliance should not be allowed to take advantage of these air strikes. And I was assured that this would not happen and that Pakistan’s concerns in this behalf would be taken care of.”
The president said that any solution which did not ensure setting up of a broad-based government in Afghanistan would not be acceptable to Pakistan. “No question of allowing to impose any solution which is against our national interest,” he said, adding that Islamabad wanted a friendly Afghanistan. “We cannot accept the butchering of people at the hands of warlords of Northern Alliance and that is why we have told the US and the British governments that Northern Alliance must be kept in check so that anarchy does not return to Afghanistan.”
He told a reporter that a major effort was required for the rehabilitation of Afghanistan and as soon as normalcy was restored, special efforts would be made to revive water management programme and agriculture development so that Afghan refugees could go back to their country. He said that he was assured by the US and British governments that they would provide all necessary support for restoring infrastructure and construction work in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian efforts, he said, needed to be reinforced through the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees after the action against Taliban was complete.
“While air strikes are going on, relief activities are also picking up with UN agencies dropping considerable food aid there,” he added.
Under the prevailing circumstances, he pointed out, former King Zahir Shah could be acceptable to Pakistan in the post-war situation.
Gen Musharraf claimed that a vast majority of people in Pakistan supported his government’s stand on the current situation. “There are some religious extremists who are opposing my government but that does not make any difference as they cannot remove my government.”
Talking about the fresh influx of Afghan refugees, he said it was a matter of concern and he had already discussed the issue with the US and British governments.
“I am sure this time they will not leave us high and dry and abandon us as had happened after the former Soviet Union left Afghanistan,” the president said. He expressed hopes that Pakistan’s legitimate military and economic requirements would be met.
“There is another cause of concern for us that foreign companies and foreign investors are leaving Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan had lost many export orders and was facing new economic problems. He said the air of uncertainty should end so that Pakistan could look after its economic interests properly.
The president said there was no quid pro quo with the United States and that Pakistan supported them on grounds of combating terrorism. “There was no give and take but we do expect that Pakistan’s economic difficulties will be taken into account by the West,” he said. “The United States understands our economic difficulties.”
In reply to a question, Gen Musharraf said that new changes in the military setup including the change of the ISI chief, had nothing to do with the US attack in Afghanistan.
The president was asked how would his government cope with the millions of new Afghan refugees and that whether new arrivals would not harm the economic interests of Pakistan. “There are already three million Afghan refugees and we cannot afford to have more refuges except the old and women,” he said, declaring that borders would have to be restricted to stop the new arrivals.
He said that United Nations should make arrangements for refugees inside Afghanistan. “We cannot accept vast number of refugees.”
When his attention was drawn towards the recent statement of Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh that attack on Pakistan by India could not be ruled out, the president regretted that the Indians were trying to take mileage out of the current situation in Afghanistan.
“But I want to make it clear on them (Indians) that Pakistan knows how to defend itself,” he said, adding that while the international community was engaged with the serious issue of terrorism, Indians were all out to take advantage of the present situation. “Nobody should live in any illusion as Pakistan is quite capable of defending itself.”
Responding to another question, he said that Pakistan’s concerns under the prevailing circumstances would be “addressed 110 per cent by the international community”.
Gen Musharraf said that Pakistan was crystallising its strategy to deal with the post-operation situation in Afghanistan.
When asked whether foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Countries, who were scheduled to meet in Doha (Qatar), would evolve any strategy to deal with the problem of Afghanistan, he said: “Events are moving so fast that there is no room for slow moving.” Nevertheless, he said the OIC foreign ministers needed to evaluate the situation and come out with a joint statement over the issue. “I believe some useful purpose could be served by the OIC.”
The president agreed with a questioner that the main cause of terrorism needed to be addressed. In this regard, he referred to the issues of Palestine and Kashmir and said: “You are moving against Al-Qaeda which is one organization but you need to reach the root cause of the problem by addressing political issues and questions relating to sense of deprivation and powerlessness of the people.”
Gen Musharraf sharply reacted when asked how would he ensure that humanitarian and other assistance being offered by the US and the West would not be misappropriated by few army generals as happened in the past. “This is a very naive question as it is wrong to say that only generals had consumed the foreign assistance.”
He ruled out the possibility of US-led forces staying in Afghanistan for long. “I am sure nobody will stay in this region.”
Asked whether the destruction of al-Qaeda and the fall of Taliban could lead to any guerrilla warfare, the president said that he did not foresee that situation. “I would again say here that if the bases of terrorists are properly hit, it will lead to a political dispensation in Afghanistan,” he said.
The president also dispelled the impression that his government had suddenly gone against the Taliban regime. He said that it was not a sudden development and he had been saying to the Taliban to close down sanctuaries of terrorists but without any result. “We have been asking the Taliban to hand over us a number of Pakistanis involved in terrorism but they did not listen to us.”
When asked whether he had opposed a proposal agreed between former President Bill Clinton and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to remove terrorists camps inside Afghanistan, the president said: “That was not a workable project in which Nawaz Sharif and his former DG ISI were involved. It was a project which could not have been met with success and that was why we shelved it.”
To another question, the president said that he did not discuss with the US and British authorities the issue of Kashmir. He said the world was faced with the issue of terrorism and what happened on Sept 11 was a catastrophic event which needed immediate attention. He said Kashmir had always been important to Pakistan and would continue to be raised by his government.
Asked whether military hardware had been provided to the Taliban, he said his government could not afford to offer military or economic assistance to Afghanistan.
To another question, Gen Musharraf said that no parallel could be drawn from what was happening in Afghanistan and the freedom struggle going on in occupied Kashmir. “Struggle is a noble cause which the Kashmiris are carrying out,” he said. He, however, said that his government had condemned the bombing of Parliament in Srinagar.
The president also said that China had been taken into confidence about the US attacks in Afghanistan and that he was in constant touch with the Chinese president and the Chinese ambassador. “Chinese do appreciate our stand and they are our all-weather friends.”
Asked to comment on Osama bin Laden’s latest statement telecast by Al-Jazira TV of Qatar in which he appealed to the Muslims of the world to turn against the USA, he said that he did not know about it. But he reiterated that time had come when the root cause of terrorism should be pointed out and resolved.
Gen Musharraf said that Pakistan was facing terrorism which was also being supported by outside forces. However, he said that he would not allow the killing of innocent people in the name of religion. “But let me say here that no Muslim can kill his Muslim brothers in mosques and such acts are supported by foreigners,” he added. “Then I am making my law enforcement agencies effective to get hold of terrorists by evolving a new intelligence and investigating process,” he said.
