NEW YORK, Sept 27: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday defended himself against criticism of his book, In the Line of Fire and said: “There are no restrictions that a president should not write a book.” Speaking at Cornell University here, he said he opted to write the book because he felt he needed to write now to clear the misperceptions about Pakistan. “I felt I must write now…I have been at the centrestage and there are distortions and misperceptions of the highest magnitude.”

Dispelling the impression that his writing the autobiography in office was unprecedented, he said: “I am not the only one, there are many world leaders who have written books in office.” He cited the example of Nelson Mandela and said there were many other leaders who did so but did not name them. He went on to add: “But I don’t have to copy anyone.”

At a press conference here on Wednesday just before leaving for Washington, the president said the main objective of writing the book was to use his standing to project Pakistan in a positive light.

He said money was not the prime consideration as he was contended with what he had and had decided to donate a major portion of his book proceeds to a foundation that he planned to set up.

He disagreed with the view that it violated the official secrets act, saying he had written about things he had been talking about all along. “No secrets have been revealed and there has been no compromise on secrets of Pakistan,” he asserted..—Q.A.