Lahore: Holding former President General Pervez Musharraf responsible for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan has said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud could not have proceeded with plans of assassinating Bhutto without Musharraf’s nod.

A private television channel reported Hassan, as saying that if Benazir would have been alive, trouble for Musharraf would have doubled.

“Had Benazir been alive, Musharraf would have been facing legal action for murdering former Balochistan governor Nawab Akbar Bugti, and removing the chief justice of Pakistan,” The Daily Times quoted Hassan, as saying.

Hassan said Musharraf had offered a much ‘bigger’ amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordinance to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, which allowed him to leave the country easily following the military coup in 1998.

Meanwhile President Zardari and his children has reached Naudero to attend second death anniversary of Benazir bhutto.

On the directives of a Sindh High Court (SHC) bench, the court’s office issued a notice on Thursday against former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and asked the petitioner to get it published in London newspapers to inform him about a constitutional petition being heard by the court.

The petitioner against Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf is Maulvi Iqbal Haider of the Awami Himayat Tehrik.

The court notice pertains to his petition seeking action against the retired General and his aides, including advocate Sharifuddin Pirzada and former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum, for ‘disfiguring’ the Constitution and committing high treason.

A list presented in the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Monday revealed that only 447 of the 3,486 gifts received by state representatives (from presidents down to deputy secretaries) during foreign visits were deposited in Tosha Khana (gift depository).

The rest were retained by the receivers after paying a meager amount or free of cost. A member of the committee told Dawn that the list contained the names of President Asif Ali Zardari, former presidents Rafiq Tarar and Pervez Musharraf, former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Mir Zafarullah Jamali and Shaukat Aziz and a number of top bureaucrats and officials.

A meeting of the committee, presided over by its chairman Shahid Hussain Bugti, took serious note of the situation and recommended an increase in the payment for a gift from the existing 15 per cent to 50 per cent of the assessed value.

Members of the meeting expressed concern over the way the gifts — received by government functionaries during foreign visits or received from foreign guests during their visit to Pakistan — were handed over to the receivers after wrong evaluation of their market price.

Shahid Bugti told Dawn that earlier a person who wanted to retain a gift had to pay 25 per cent of the assessed value of the item, but former prime minister Shaukat Aziz reduced the payment to 15 per cent in 2006 without an approval by the cabinet.

He said that under the rules, gifts with market value of less than Rs10,000 could be retained by an official without paying any amount.

According to sources, Shaukat Aziz took the advantage of this relaxation and retained hundreds of gifts with wrong assessment of market value.

They said the list showed that the former prime minister had retained a number of precious jewel-studded wrist watches by showing their market price as just a few thousands of rupees. Mr Aziz did not even deposit gifts with a market price of only Rs1,500 or less.

Mr Bugti said the committee felt that the previously received payment of 15 per cent of the assessed value of a gift was negligible and suggested that in future assessment should be made in a transparent manner. (DAWN)

The Parliament resounded on Thursday with voices challenging the allotment of thousands of acres of state land by Musharraf to bureaucrats, politicians and his own staff members.

Unfortunately the civilian and military authorities are keeping mum over the allotment of over 15,000 kanals in violation of the policy and rules. While the government has no land to offer to civilian victims and martyrs of non-military security agencies personnel who lost their lives in the post-9/11 terrorist attacks, there is no attempt to cancel those allotments made out of the state land meant for war veterans and families of martyrs in the Punjab and the Frontier.

On the contrary, the government has been found involved in doling out state land to its favourites in regular CDA sectors whereas Sindh has sold hundreds of acres of government land particularly in Karachi at throwaway prices to well connected ones and the blue-eyed.

Interestingly, it was the Punjab that had moved to get cancelled the military state-land that was allotted to civilian employees of the province by Musharraf. It too later got cold feet and did not move despite even writing to the civilian recipients of these plots to surrender the land to the military.

Musharraf doled out hundreds of acres of agriculture state land to over 70 employees of the Aiwan-e-Sadr and revenue officials of the respective districts where the land was allotted during his stay in the office of the head of the state.

He also distributed like sweets hundreds of acres of land to dozens of civilian Revenue Department and other officials in Punjab and Frontier besides giving 1,200 kanals of land to two key leaders of a political party in the name of their close associates — all civilians (not even government officials).

The agriculture land allotted by Musharraf to his staff members varied from plot size 12.5 acres to 30 acres per person. Most of this land allotted belongs to Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Dera Ismail Khan. The lucky allottees include several revenue officials of these districts.It is said that they were given the plots for the reason that the land allotted to Presidency officials should be taken care of.

Besides some of the genuine allotments made to some military officials attached with Musharraf as his personal staff a number of brigadiers, colonels, majors and even captains were allotted military land meant for martyrs, etc. Fifteen to 20 gunmen of Musharraf’s security were also amongst the beneficiaries.

A total of 47 revenue officials and other members of the civilian bureaucracy in Punjab alone were allotted 6,700 kanals of land. The Punjab took notice of these allotments. Besides directing the concerned military authorities to ensure that the military land allotted to the civilian officers is not further sold, the recipients (Punjab civil officials) were asked to surrender the land allotted to them in order to avoid a possible disciplinary action.

The most controversial part of the former dictator’s largesse on state land, which was earmarked for military martyrs and war veterans, was the allotment of 1,200 kanals land made in violation of the law and policy to six persons closely associated with a senior leader of a political party and one of the top officials of the then NWFP government.

{Source: The News}

Former President Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf speaks to the students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, USA and explains Taliban, Talibanization, advent of Al Qaeda, and how to counter them. His lecture to 2500 in attendance was titled “My View of the World”. to an assemblage of faculty, alumni, students and the public.

PKOnweb Monitor

Former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf who is in the United States on a 40-lecture tour criticized former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif today calling him ‘abrasive’ and ‘confrontational’.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News on ‘Good Morning America’ today, Musharraf said the PML-N chief, whom he ousted in a bloodless coup in October 1999, “has never been on good terms with any army chief or president of Pakistan”, adding that the former premier was a “closet Taliban” – too close to the Taliban and Al Qaeda to be trusted …by the US.

“Even on Pakistan Television these days, talk shows are going on saying that he has met Osama Bin Laden five times – five times before 9/11 – and he has been financed by Osama,” Musharraf said. “Then the other element is that he never speaks against terrorism and extremism.” The man is a closet Taliban, he added.

Stating that Pakistan and India will face great danger from Al Qaeda if the United States pulls out of Afghanistan, the former ousted president said a pullout would result in an unstable Afghanistan.

“The country [Afghanistan] will become the centre of all Al Qaeda sanctuaries and consequently could extend its influence into Pakistan and possibly even India,” Musharraf said.

“We have to destroy al Qaeda, who are in our mountain(s). Yes, they have safe havens and they have to be destroyed, he added.

To a question on the US consideration of sending more troops to Afghanistan, he said US President Obama should have complied with Gen Stanley McChyrstal’s recommendation “yesterday”. “I think you should take it immediately. You should have taken it yesterday,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf said he “absolutely” believed there needed to be more troops in Afghanistan. But he said sending more troops could mean an increase in casualties, something the US should be prepared for.

“We must avoid casualties, as much as possible. But when soldiers move and armies act, casualties will be there, and we should accept casualties,” he said.

He said the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be mined, a proposition he termed “drastic”.

“As far as I’m concerned, we should mine it so that people can’t go across,” Musharraf said. And we should even fence it. We could fence it, like the Indians have done fencing. But fencing means manning the fence. Otherwise it’s a useless thing — obstacle. Mines don’t have to be manned, so there are measures, he added.

Read the entire transcript at: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/chris-cuomo-interviews-pakistani-president-musharraf-read-transcript/story?id=8657043

Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf told a students’ gathering at Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island, NY) on Tuesday that terrorists were the greatest threat to stability in South Asia, adding that Pakistan, neighbouring India and Afghanistan represented a ‘nexus of extremism’.

Gen (retd) Musharraf also rejected a perception that Pakistan supplied arms to Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan.

‘It’s quite the opposite. The arms and money flow into Pakistan from Afghanistan, not the other way,’ he said.

The retired general pointed to the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as an example of extremism growing among the Muslim youth in India.

‘There is a sense of frustration … of unequal opportunity and discrimination in India,’ he said.

In a 45-minute speech about ‘leadership experiences’, he blamed the current economic crisis in Pakistan on the country’s current leaders.

‘It’s not a crisis of nation or people, but a crisis of leadership. Simple as that,’ Gen (retd) Musharraf said of the massive exodus of wealth and foreign investment from the country in the past year.

In a brief question-and-answer session, Musharraf defended Pakistan’s development of nuclear arms as a logical response to India’s development of nuclear weapons, but called for peace between the two longstanding rivals.

‘I am called a man of war, but I am a man of peace because I understand the ravages of war,’ he said. ‘Military (action) only buys time, it does not deliver the cure.’

Musharraf is in USA on a 40-lectures speaking tour, using London as his base.

The main auditorium at the univiersity was filled to capacity with about 600 seated, and a nearby overflow room, where the speech was televised, had about 200 additional guests.

The former president will meet privately with US lawmakers on September 29 to discuss the changing US strategy for fighting the war in Afghanistan, according to an email obtained by AFP Wednesday.

Representative Steve Buyer, the top Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has invited fellow lawmakers to sit down with Musharraf, according to the message from his legislative director.

PKonweb Monitor

Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has assured King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia that he would not seek my trial for high treason, claimed former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf on Sunday.

In an interview with ARY News – a local Pakistani TV channel, the ousted president said that his nemesis Nawaz Sharif had assured King Abdullah of respecting the agreement not to call for his trial under Article 6 of the constitution.

Article 6 specifies high treason for the abrogator of the consitution as well as for the abrogator’s collaborators, enablers.

Musharraf said Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the chief justice of Supreme Court and he expects justice from him. Musharraf further said that the judges who supported him would also be treated under Article 6 if he was tried under the said article.

Musharraf said that if he had not supported the US in the war against terror after the 9/11 attacks, American forces could have entered Pakistan to capture its nuclear assets. He said it was also possible that the US and India could have jointly attacked the country.

Musharraf said the present government was following the same strategic policies with regards to the US that his government had pursued, adding there were only minor differences in the modalities of official dealings. He said the military aid given to Pakistan for the war on terror had also been used to strengthen Pakistan’s defense against India.

On July 31, Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule and dismiss dozens of senior judges in November 2007 was unconstitutional.

Sharif has been demanding the government put Musharraf on trial for suspending constitution and high treason but PPP, PML-Q and MQM are lukewarm on this matter – due to back channel deals made by PPP as is generally known.

Sharif on Sunday called on Saudi Arabia King Shah Abdullah in Makkah to discuss the matters of mutual interest. PML-N leader Ishaq Dar told a private TV after the meeting that the Saudi King had not made any demands regarding Musharraf’s trial.

He said Saudi Arabia never interferes in the internal issues of Pakistan.

 PKonweb Monitor

SEP 11 – Former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf said Friday he has not decided whether he will return to his homeland to face trial over his 2007 detention of judges as he attempted to cling to power. "I am going to the US to deliver lectures and that will go on until November. So far, I have not taken any fixed decision about going back to Pakistan."

Musharraf, who is in London, told a private TV channel over the telephone.

Musharraf also gave today a 45-minute live interview to Dr Danish of Sawal Yeh Hai on ARY in which he said he believed the Al Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 2001 attacks – denouncing the conspiracy theorists that the US was behind the attacks themselves.

He said upon interrogating several Al Qaeda extremists who were captured inside Pakistan, this fact was revealed.

Musharraf said Pakistan still faced an enemy on its eastern border and therefore nuclear deterrence was still needed.

Watch his interview at:
Gen (R) Musharraf speaks on 9/11: Sawal Yeh Hai

SEP 11 – Former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf said Friday he has not decided whether he will return to his homeland to face trial over his 2007 detention of judges as he attempted to cling to power.

“I am going to the US to deliver lectures and that will go on until November. So far, I have not taken any fixed decision about going back to Pakistan,” Musharraf, who is in London, told private TV channel over the telephone.

PKonweb News Monitor

SEP 9 – Former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf, will be meeting President Barack Obama in the third week of October, during his lecture tour of USA, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Musharraf’s 40-day visit to the United States begins on September 14 during which the former president shall be paid a whopping fee of $300,000 per lecture to various American think tanks and other institutions.

“Only former US president Bill Clinton is being paid as much for delivering a lecture and nobody else is being paid more than this amount,” said Chaudhry Fawwad, Advocate, a member of the legal team appointed by Musharraf to defend him in the Pakistani courts.

“The former president will deliver lectures in 17 American states.”

Chaudhry Fawwad said Musharraf would deliver lectures on Pakistan’s national security, nuclear program, future of Afghanistan and impact of the Afghan situation on Pakistan.

He said another topic of his lectures would be the role of Pakistan’s Army in the war against terrorism. The lawyer said a meeting of Musharraf with US President Barack Obama had been fixed for the third week of October.

He said during his stay in Washington DC, the former military ruler would also meet former US secretary of state Colin Powell, Senator John Kerry, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and heads of various US think tanks and lawmakers.

“Begum Sehba Musharraf and security staff will accompany the former president during his visit to the United States,” he added. Chaudhry Fawwad said on his way back, Musharraf would make a stopover in Abu Dhabi where leaders of all the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) factions — except the one led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif — would meet him.

He said during the meetings, the unification of all the PML factions would be discussed and efforts would be made to achieve this objective. “The former president is constantly in touch with PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. The PML-N conspired to cause further split in the PML-Q but its conspiracy has been foiled,” Chaudhry Fawwad said. “Chaudhry Shujaat will be appointed as president of the unified PML because, according to Musharraf, he is a sagacious and wise leader” The News reported.