July 10, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 9: Acting president of Pakistan Muslim League (N) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has condemned the attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, and termed the incident “a result of Gen Musharraf’s failed foreign policy.”

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the acting PML-N chief said the attack was due to the “increasing hatred the Afghans felt towards Pakistan, and a logical consequence of Gen Pervez Musharraf’s unwise policy” under which he agreed to be the front-line partner of American aggression against a friendly government.

Mr Hashmi said Gen Musharraf’s “generous support to the US not only enabled Indian stooges to seize power in Kabul,” but, according to reliable reports, Indian troops were also about to reach Afghanistan.

The PML-N reminded the people of Afghanistan the role and contribution of Pakistan during the Soviet occupation. Pakistan also provided refuge to three million Afghans, with thousands of them still living in this country, he added.

He said when the US launched its war in Oct 2001 to replace the Taliban government with the minority group of Northern Alliance, the patriotic political leadership in Pakistan had warned that it would undermine our security on the Western border “at a time when we are confronted with very serious pressure on the Eastern border.”

He said Pakistanis never had a good opinion of the Northern Alliance. He said Gen Musharraf had repeatedly assured the nation that his Afghan policy would ultimately prove beneficial for the country. Gen Musharraf even dismissed the possibility of the Northern Alliance coming into power.

He said the president had said that the US Secretary of State Colin Powell had assured him that the future broad-based government in Kabul would include “moderate Taliban” and the Northern Alliance.