HYDERABAD, March 13: Former foreign minister and leader of People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali has said that the Democrats resolution, which seeks linking the US aid to Pakistan with elimination of terrorist infrastructure instead of restoration of democracy, is a great setback for democratic forces of Pakistan.

Mr Assef said while talking to Dawn on Monday at the residence of former senator Ali Nawaz Shah after participating in a motorcade rally organised by his party that the aid should have been linked with restoration of democracy.

To a question about possible attack on Iran he said that "I have 500 reasons the US should not attack Iran and only one reason that Iran will be attacked and that reason is American president George W. Bush."

If Bush went ahead with his plan to attack Iran it would work against the US interests in "the Middle East, which will be sucked into the war", he argued.

He said that the US policymakers wanted to drive a wedge between Shia and Sunni communities in Iran and Gen Pervez Musharraf was part of their policies. "Musharraf finds himself between a rock and a hard place," he remarked.

"It's a foreign policy disaster for Pakistan as far as terrorist infrastructure is concerned because our government appeared to be helpless," he said.

Mr Assef was highly critical of US plans to chase terrorists into Pakistan and said that they wanted to do so on the ground that they felt that Gen Musharraf was not delivering up to their expectations.

"My personal reading of the situation is that Pakistan army has perhaps refused to hunt down militants in tribal areas inside Pakistan given the fact that they have suffered enormous losses in lives of their soldiers and ammunition," he said.

On the contrary, Musharraf had always been quick to own any action or strike by the US inside the country.