30 September 2004	Thursday	14 Shaban 1425

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ROME, Sept 29: President Pervez Musharraf suggested on Wednesday one should do "a psychological study" of Dr A.Q. Khan to determine why he was involved in nuclear proliferation , though personally he thought that the man he called "a hero" did so for personal reasons.

Addressing a select gathering from the Pakistani community in Italy here, the president referred to the non-proliferation issue while telling his audience that Dr A.Q. Khan's activities had created a misperception in the world that Pakistan itself was responsible for nuclear proliferation.

Dr Khan, he said, had helped Pakistan become a nuclear power, but his proliferation activities had earned a bad name for his country at large. But his government's policies, he said, had removed this misperception about Pakistan.

The proliferation issue, he said, was one of the four misperceptions about Pakistan in the world, the other three being those about Afghanistan, Kashmir and the nature of Pakistani society.

About Afghanistan, he said the world thought it was Islamabad that was responsible for all that was going on in that country. Similarly, in Kashmir the world took the charge that Pakistan was responsible for cross-border terrorism seriously.

Also, the international community thought Pakistani society was extremist and militant. The president touched upon all these misperceptions one by one and claimed these misgivings about Pakistan stood removed.

His government, he said, was waging the war on terror in mountains to eliminate terrorism because doing so was in Pakistan's interest. He said the mastermind behind terrorist activities in the country and those behind the attacks on him had been arrested.

The president said without a resolution of the unresolved issues, the war on terror would become 'tactical action.' The president said the strength of a nation depended upon "two pillars - the economy and defence". In the case of Pakistan both were strong.

Pakistan was a nation of 150 million and was fit to play a major role in the world because it was "a nuclear and missile power" and for the first time in history the Muslim ummah was looking to Pakistan for leadership. "Now Muslim states listen to us and seek our help and guidance."

The president again referred to the turn-around in the economy and said his government had "arrested poverty", the aim of his government's strategy being to pass on the benefits of the economic growth to the people.

Most Pakistanis attending the meeting had come from Milan. At present, there are over 60,000 Pakistanis in Italy, of whom 41,000 have been regularized. Chaudhri Shabbir Ahmad, head of the Pakistani organizations in Italy, demanded that a consulate be opened in Milan, besides a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan, so that Pakistanis could send home remittances through a Pakistani bank

Ambassador Qamar Beg said whosoever he talked to in Italy said Pakistanis were a law-abiding lot. He said Italy - unlike major colonial powers - was experiencing cultural pluralism for the first time. The president is scheduled to meet the Pope at the Vatican on Thursday before leaving for Pakistan on Thursday.