ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: President Pervez Musharraf has defended his decision to write his autobiography while in office and claimed that it is the first time that a book from Pakistan has because a bestseller.

Talking to media representatives at an Iftar-dinner here on Wednesday, the president’s message to the critics was: “No need to be jealous.” He argued that it made sense to write a book when one was at peak as it captured world attention.

Refuting allegations of his book being ‘a pack of lies’, he asserted: “This book is the truth, nothing but the truth and the whole truth. And I have documentary evidence of all I have said.”

He insisted that it was not for his on projection but for the projection of the country that he had decided to write the book.

He said that through the book he had succeeded in effectively presenting Pakistan’s standpoint on key issues like terrorism, extremism, democracy and nuclear proliferation.

“I have also projected Kargil, the most misunderstood episode. I have given the reality of Kargil,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee contesting his claims on the Agra summit, the president said: “Whatever I have written is final.”

The president disclosed that he had been paid $250,000 by his publisher, of which he had given $90,000 to ‘various people’ whom he did not want to name. He said the remaining $160,000 would go to a foundation that he planned to set up for economic empowerment of the poor. “It will be called Musharraf Foundation and will have a board of trustees,” he said. He said the 15 per cent royalty that he would get from his publisher would also go to the foundation.—Q.A.