ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate for prime minister Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Wednesday he was willing to give the United States time to withdraw its bases from Pakistan, marking a softening of his stance on the issue.
The MMA campaigned for the immediate withdrawal of US bases from Pakistan and the imposition of Islamic law in the country. But it appears to be softening its stance slightly as it vies for a place in a future coalition government.
“Measures should be taken to assure the Pakistani people that they are vacating the bases,” the MMA leader told Reuters. “After these measures are taken, a timeframe can be decided for the vacation of the bases.”
There is a small US military presence in Pakistan concentrated at the Jacobabad air base, from where search and rescue operations in neighbouring Afghanistan are launched.
“We want to assure the US, the West and international community that we don’t need foreign assistance in maintaining peace in Pakistan, and its soil will not be allowed to be used against anyone,” the Maulana said.
Maulana Fazl welcomed an announcement by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that some of the Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects being held at a naval base in Cuba would be released after months of interrogation failed to yield grounds for prosecution.
Some of the prisoners to be released are Pakistani citizens, according to a senior US defence official.
“These US measures are bringing it from extremism to moderation,” the MMA leader said.
“Like...a softening of their position on Iraq, it is a step towards creating a good environment. These should be encouraged and more steps...taken to bring peace in the world.”
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: The JUI chief condemned the detention of a prominent orthopaedic surgeon this week in Lahore by Pakistani intelligence agents working with their FBI counterparts.
“These are the measures that create suspicions that our sovereignty is permanently in danger,” he said. “He was a doctor and served humanity, and such measures are against humanity.”
The brothers of Dr Amir Aziz said FBI agents had accused him of supplying anthrax to Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, but Fazl said the FBI’s reported involvement was exactly the sort of foreign interference that had brought voters out for the MMA.
“Our people have given their opinion against such measures and it shows the US is not respecting the verdict of the people of Pakistan,” he said.
The MMA leader described as an injustice the way the Taliban’s image had been “defamed,” and said the movement had brought peace to Afghanistan.
He declined to say how he would respond if Washington asked an MMA-led government to hand over former Taliban leaders who may have taken refuge in Pakistan, but said former members of the Taliban would not cause trouble under an MMA government.—Reuters