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

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KARACHI, July 9: Asif Ali Zardari claimed on Wednesday that the Musharraf regime was on the defensive against political forces, and urged it to put its act together to decide who was the real ruler of the country.

Talking informally to reporters inside the Karachi Central Prison prior to his acquittal in an attempt to commit suicide case, Mr Zardari termed Gen Musharraf’s Camp David visit a “failure”, and said the deplorable terrorist attack in Quetta and the state of relations with Afghanistan, Iran and other neighbours reflected Pakistan’s growing isolation.

Mr Zardari said the military as an institution did not share the whims of Gen Musharraf and a few commanders. The country belonged to 170 million people and not a few commanders who had taken upon themselves the responsibility of denying the people their right to govern and decide about their destiny.

He said the force of the people, 40 per cent of whom live below the poverty line, should be galvanized and they should rise “under our banner.” It was for the new generation, he said, to now play its role in this regard.

On the government’s talks offer to the opposition, Mr Zardari said negotiations were part of the democratic system, and “we have not closed our doors.”

Referring to the MMA’s relationship with the government, the interned PPP leader said it was a “cat and mouse game”, and claimed the regime was on the defensive owing to complications created by the LFO.

Mr Zardari emphatically denied any “deal” between political forces and the government, and described such a talk as representing the “usual trap” set by the establishment to weaken political parties and create misunderstandings among them.

He alleged that he had been politically victimized, and in this context he referred to the Murtaza Bhutto murder case against him, saying “they killed a Bhutto to get a Bhutto”.