ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: President Gen Pervez Musharraf is expected to address the nation on Saturday to take people into confidence about the growing tension in the region and the proposed measures aimed at discouraging religious extremism and intolerance in society, official sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

However, the possibility of the president’s address being delayed by a day could not be ruled out, they added.

The president’s address will most likely not deal with the Indian demand for handing over 20 alleged terrorists to New Delhi. “If we hand over 20 people today, tomorrow they will ask for another 30 and then they will keep demanding for more which is not at all acceptable to us,” a source said.

He claimed that both President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair had been informed that Pakistan had taken “enough measures” and now India should be told to reciprocate and pull back its troops to peace time positions.

The focus of the president’s upcoming speech, sources said, would be on internal situation, law and order, and sectarian violence. The government has already banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Muhammad and put their parent parties on the watch list. Now some action could be taken against those parent parties and there would be a mention of it in the president’s speech, the source said.

“Action against militant groups has already started with the arrest of Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-i-Mohammad and Hafiz Saeed Ahmad of Lashkar-i-Taiba, and now their (parent) parties are likely to be disbanded,” another source said, adding that fund-raising by these parties had already been banned.

Sources said the American and British governments had been informed that Pakistan would take action against alleged terrorists according to the law of the land, provided evidence was given by the Indian government.

Sources said Gen Musharraf was likely to mention in his speech that while the United States had got a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council before taking any action in Afghanistan, India was refusing to have any joint investigation conducted. At the same time, they added, India had rejected the offer by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and that it was contemplating a military action without satisfying the international community.

Sources said the US and UK governments had been informed that there were “certain limits” for Pakistan to concede and that undue pressure could prove to be counter-productive.

Pakistan has also informed Washington and London that there had been a 90-minute meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in Kathmandu but later New Delhi denied it and that’s why the Indian government was using “such tactics”.

Sources said that while Pakistan was making all out efforts to avoid war, it was not unmindful of the fact that things could worsen for which “necessary consensus among the armed forces” had been achieved by the president.

According to defence analysts, in case India commits any misadventure it would not achieve any “conclusive strategic designs” as Pakistan will retaliate and retaliate timely to inflict huge loss on India without opting for nuclear weapons.

“If India tries to destroy our strategic sites like dams, highways, roads and factories, we will equally be in a position to give a response for which all necessary exercises have been conducted,” said a military source.