LAHORE, April 11: Former ministers Begum Abida Husain and her husband Syed Fakhar Imam think that disappointed with the United States, President Pervez Musharraf is likely to take Pakistan into what they call the Russian camp.

The president is killing the Uzbek militants in the tribal areas not on the Uzbekistan government’s demand but to please Russian President Vladimir Putin, the couple said while talking to reporters on Wednesday.

Ms Husain, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States during Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure as prime minister, said the Russian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan should be seen in the context of the changing regional situation and the likely shift in Pakistan’s policy.

She said Gen Musharraf was perhaps emulating India which was a close ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War but had become an important partner of the United States after the disintegration of what was once the second super power.

The couple said that instead of taking such decisions of far-reaching consequences, Gen Musharraf should quit.

Begum Hussain alleged that the general was deteriorating the situation to a point that could justify the imposition of emergency. She said the elections could not be delayed even during an emergency situation. She substantiated her argument citing the examples of countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan where the elections were held while the war was going on.

The couple joined the Pakistan People’s Party in November last year and have been working actively for the party since then.

They said the policies of Gen Musharraf had dented the image of the army. In their opinion, the army could regain its “lost prestige” by going back to barracks and “surrendering plazas, lands and other benefits” they had taken without entitlement.

The army, the couple said, should be content with the facilities available to army personnel in other countries.

Mr Imam said President Musharraf had given several formulae for the solution of the Kashmir dispute, but India had not reciprocated. As a result, he claimed, there was no headway towards the solution of the problem, which had bedevilled relations between the two countries for the past six decades.

He challenged the government’s claims about a booming economy. He said trade deficit was growing by the day and industrial production was going down. Only traders were making money but industrialists and agriculturalists were passing through very difficult periods, he claimed.