ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will address the nation on Saturday, at 7.30pm, over state-owned electronic media, official sources said.

The speech, which has attracted a great deal of international attention following a meeting of President Musharraf with a nine-member bipartisan delegation of US senators, will unfold a number of tough measures against the militants and extremist elements, the sources said.

However, they dispelled the impression that the president would announce some fundamental changes in Pakistan’s half-a-century-old stance on Kashmir issue. There was no question of any shift in the Kashmir policy, they said.

The sources disclosed that the president was himself writing his speech, which was awaited as keenly in Pakistan as in India. The US senators had announced that it would lead to de-escalation of current tensions and initiation of talks on Kashmir issue.

The US senators after their meeting with the president earlier this week had announced that it would open a new chapter in India-Pakistan relations, adding that it would change the course of history.

The sources said that no major concessions, particularly on the issue of Kashmir, would be announced in the speech. They claimed that the president would not accept the Indian government’s demand of handing over 20 alleged terrorists.

They pointed out that the president had decided to address the nation much before the Dec 13 incident. They said the president would take the nation into confidence over the measures being adopted by the government in line with its policy of curbing extremism and militancy.

They recalled that the president before his visit to Nepal had held a meeting with the provincial governors and police officials to chalk out a comprehensive plan for developing a moderate and tolerant society.

They said the anti-terrorism law was passed by the government in August last year with the ban on Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Muhammad, militant wings of Sipah-i-Sahaba and Tehrik-i-Jaferia respectively.

The president was now expected to announce a ban on Sipah-i-Sahaba and Tehrik-i-Jaferia also.

On the Kashmir issue, the president would reiterate his policy of holding dialogue with India, any time, anywhere, they said.