NEW YORK, Sept 19: The Washington Post on Monday stood by its report that in an interview with its reporters President Pervez Musharraf claimed that rape has become a “money-making concern” in Pakistan and that many Pakistanis felt it was an easy way to make money and get a Canadian visa.

Responding to denials by Gen Musharraf that he made such remarks, the Post said that a review of the tape confirmed that Gen Musharraf — who was surrounded by aides who took notes and also recorded the interview — was accurately quoted.

In an interview on Saturday with the CNN, Gen Musharraf said that the remarks were made by someone else in his presence and not by him.

The paper said that Gen Musharraf made the remarks at the end of a nine-minute discussion on the case of Mukhtaran Mai, 33, who spoke publicly about having been gang-raped on the orders of a village council in 2002. Mai won public sympathy and government support after she demanded that the men be charged and convicted, the paper said.

The paper noted that earlier this year, however, the Bush administration assailed Musharraf when he blocked Mai from coming to the United States to publicize the case.

The paper said that the rape comments were not the main focus of the article, published on Tuesday, which covered a broad range of topics discussed in a 50-minute interview. In the article’s 12th paragraph, The Washington Post quoted Gen Musharraf as saying: “This has become a money-making concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.”

In the interview, Gen Musharraf said that he was “on the side of women” but that Pakistan was being unfairly “singled out when this curse is happening everywhere in the world”. Speaking of another high-profile rape case, he said that he had arranged for a visa and for $50,000 to be given to Shazia Khalid, a Pakistani medical doctor who was raped by a masked intruder, allegedly an army officer, so she could leave the country. Shazia Khalid has applied for asylum in Canada.

Then, as the reporters prepared to move to the next question, Gen Musharraf interjected the comments about rape as a money-making concern, saying it was the “popular term” in Islamabad, the paper reported.