Musharraf plans move to counter offensive

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: A beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf is reported to have told his loyalists that he has ‘sufficient official records’ to expose failures of the four-month-old coalition government.

PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi made on Monday a third call on the president in four days to discuss the situation arising out of the impeachment move.

Sources said the two leaders briefed the president on their efforts for galvanising support for him and urged him not to resign without fighting.

PML-Q MNAs Marvi Memon, Amir Muqam and Sheikh Waqas Akram also met the president and assured him of their support. The president informed them he had a list of failures of the present government.

They told reporters that the president had criticised PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for what he termed his personal vendetta against him. He accused Mr Sharif of pitting the PPP leadership against him to fulfil his designs.

The president dismissed as rubbish the allegations of misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars of US military assistance, saying that pocketing foreign aid by an individual was not possible because it was utilised under a system.

The opposition legislators said the president had accused the coalition government of trying to cut the size of the army by half. He said he had opposed a move to replace the chief of the Inter Services Intelligence.

The PML-Q leaders said Mr Musharraf had sought information about the corruption committed by various officials of the government over the past four months.

He assured his supporters that he would not disappoint them and confront his detractors and expose them to the nation.

Meanwhile, president’s spokesman Maj-Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi said in a statement that Mr Musharraf did not want to respond to the ‘wild allegations’ being levelled against him through the media and would defend himself after receiving the charge-sheet.

APP adds: The spokesman denied reports of President Musharraf’s meeting with US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson.“No such meeting took place.”

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