October 10, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 27, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 9: Former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg has alleged that President Pervez Musharraf is responsible for the killings in North Waziristan as, after being re-elected as the head of state, he is trying to convince his main backer, the United States, that he is very serious in fighting the war on terror.

He told Dawn on Tuesday that the casualties of the military personnel were much higher than being admitted officially.

He proposed that accepting its defeat at the hands of the militants the government should withdraw troops from the tribal areas and hold talks with the tribesmen to restore peace to the area. In case this was not done, he said, the situation would worsen with the passage of time and finding a solution would become more difficult.

He predicted that in the days ahead the conflict could spread to Miram Shah, Para Chinar, Kohat and other adjoining areas.

The former army chief warned that the army would not be able to defeat the people who could not be defeated in the past even by the United States, Russia and troops of other countries.

Asked how many people were fighting the Pakistan army, Gen Beg said all tribal people of the area were involved in the situation. He believed that they would not stop fighting unless their demands were met.

The militants, he said, wanted that occupation forces should quit Afghanistan and Iraq and recognize the struggles going on in Kashmir, Palestine and Chechnya as freedom movements.

Gen Beg said it was regrettable that every now and then the Pakistan army had to kill its own people to show the US afresh that it was determined to eliminate the militants.

He said at present Mirali cantonment was under tremendous pressure, and the troops were not willing to fight.

In his assessment the re-election of Gen Musharraf would escalate the fighting going on in the tribal areas.

He said Gen Musharraf would stay in power along with the existing ruling coalition. Parties like the PPP and the PML-N would have no role to play in the future setup, he said.