NRO tabled in parliament. Takht ya Takhta! Guests: Imran Khan (Chairman PTI), Nabeel Gabol (PPP) and Justice (R) Tariq Mahmood (Former Pres SCBA)

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PKonweb Monitor

Former president Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf has said that if the United States had accepted the Taliban government in Afghanistan, neither 9/11 could have happened nor terrorism would have increased. He said former US president Bill Clinton during his visit to Pakistan had been asked to establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban government.

He said the United States and the West had brought nearly 25,000 Mujahideen and Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan for Jihad, adding, the Taliban had control over 90 per cent area of Afghanistan. Now these Mujahedeen remnants are holed up inside Pakistan, he added.

The formfer General was talking to the media after a dinner hosted Sunday evening in his honor by the Pakistani-American Comunity of New York.

Asked about his political future, Musharraf said, “I have to make a decision based on the wishes of the people of Pakistan.”

Some observers said it meant Musharraf’s entry in politics is almost a done deal. Others called his statement ‘delusional’.

About the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the former president said Bugti’s killing was the result of a military operation there and anyone who spoke or worked against the country’s interest should not be forgiven.

Talking to media persons after attending a reception hosted in his honor in the Staten Island boro of New York on Sunday night, Musharraf said he could not be accused of Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing because at that time there was a chief minister, a prime minister and others, who were running the government affairs. He was only head of the state when the Baloch leader was killed, adding he should not be blamed for the incident, Musharraf said.

Replying to a question, he categorically denied that his exit from power or leaving the country was part of any deal. “I am here to deliver a series of lectures. I have not quit power as a result of any deal or any assurance from anybody,” said the former president in a very strong tone.

When asked if the Army did not do the right thing by openly expressing reservations over the Kerry-Lugar Bill, he said the whole nation agitated the bill and if the Army believed that it was getting affected by it, it was its right to speak out. He said if any clause of the bill was compromising Pakistan’s sovereignty, the nation should reject it.

Musharraf said he did not want to speak on the NRO issue because the matter was in the court and now parliament was also ready to debate it. Asked why the corrupt politicians were allowed to return to the country, he said that he was not a judge and had to allow return of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto because even the Swiss courts were not able to convict her after 12 years of litigations.

He said when he left the office of the president the country was in a good shape but since then the situation has deteriorated and the government has failed to perform its duties. He said the Waziristan operation was a right step in the right direction because the terrorists needed to be eliminated and he would wish success for the Pakistan Army in this ongoing operation against the militants.

On the Lal Masjid operation, the former president said his decision to have a security operation in the Lal Masjid was a right one, claiming no innocent women or children were killed there as portrayed by a section of the press. “There were armed militants hiding over there who were involved in acts of terrorism and security forces conducted operation against them,” he said.

About his meeting with Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Agra, Musharraf said it was decided between him and Vajpayee that the joint declaration would include that Kashmir was a dispute between India and Pakistan and it would be settled through political negotiations but the then Indian prime minister backed out of it at the last moment. He said then a second draft of the joint declaration was prepared with some changes but Vajpayee backed out of that again.

“I did not like it and wanted to leave right away but could not do so because of the advice of our foreign secretary. I also wanted to talk to the press about the issue but could not do so either as the press was not allowed to come to the hotel where I was staying and we were not allowed to go to the press due to security reasons,” Musharraf added.

About the current energy crisis, he said Kalabagh Dam should be constructed to overcome the energy crisis.

PKonweb Monitor

The recently arrested Hizbut Tahrir activists from Islamabad include a nuclear scientist, a private TV channel reported on Monday.

Police raided a ‘safe house’ of the proscribed student organisation Hizb-ut-Tahrir on Saturday and took into custody over two dozen activists. Six activists of the group managed to escape despite a siege of the house in sector F-8/3.

According to reports, the arrested men include the scientist, a USAID official and an environmental scientist.

Police raided the house after a tip-off that a large number of the banned outfit’s members were huddled in a meeting there to plot acts of subversion in Islamabad. The house is located only a few kilometres from the offices of police high-ups.

The activists who are being interrogated by the Islamabad police include: Rizwan Aleem, a nuclear scientist and currently a PhD student at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology; Abid Mehmood, an officer of a United States Agency for International Development; and Aman Hamza, an environmental scientist.

Sources say the Hizbut Tahrir activists were likely to be handed over to intelligence agencies for further interrogation. Nearly, all the 32 arrested activists belonged to educated families, the channel reported.

A K Dogar (Advocate SC) and Malik Qayyum (Former Attorney) discuss suo Moto cases, PCO Judges

Sen John Kerry’s visit to Islamabad and Kerry-Lugar Bill and South Waziristan Operation; Guests: Ch. Nisar Ali Khan (PML-N), Marvi Memon (PML-Q) and Maria Sultan (Defense Analyst).

PKonweb Monitor

Sen John Kerry who is Chairman US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-author of the Kerry-Lugar Bill has made it clear that it is impossible to make any changes in the controversial bill. He was giving a select briefing in Islamabad with six senior journalists.

He was asked whether the Kerry-Lugar Bill and its subsequent clarification had found acceptance in the power centres of Pakistan.

“As of today, it seems to me that the Pakistani leadership, civil and military”, is on the same page, Kerry told the select journalists.

He said that the US’ statement of clarification on the KLB “could not be clearer”. He cautioned that “we should not play to cheap galleries here”. He also said, “if you don’t want the money, say so. We’re not forcing you to take it”.

Senator Kerry said that his meetings both with the civilian and military leaders had been “very positive”.

The senator was returning to the US embassy from a “brief lunch” with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif. Senator Kerry said that Sharif had asked for “further clarification” on some points but that the senator did not see that as a problem and the meeting was “very positive”. Nawaz and his party have ‘rejected’ the Bill and had called for voting on it in the parliament. The parliament after brief debate was prorogued.

Kerry used the same words for his meetings with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI Director General Gen Shuja Pasha.

Daily Times reported that Senator Kerry’s body language was weary and disappointed, although he was careful not to use such negative words. He simply said that he was in Pakistan to clarify his intention to help Pakistanis and he was “concerned” that those not be misconstrued.

He finished on a light note by saying that he had “never had so much difficulty in trying to give away $ 7.5 billion”. The unsaid subtext of Senator Kerry’s presentation was: take it or leave it.

He said in these difficult times, Americans wanted to know why so much money was being given to Pakistan when “we need it badly in California or Oklahoma or other parts of the US”.

South Waziristan operation and Gen Kayani’s appeal to Mehsud Tribe. Guests: Zubair Shah, Aftab Ahmed Sharpao PPP, Junaid Iqbal and Mansoor Akbar

JSOC (JOINT SPECIAL OPERATION COMMAND) active in Iran and Afghanistan. US covert financing ($400 million) of Iran insurgency thru Jundullah and others; Seymour Hersh’s revelations. Guests: Gen (R) Hameed Gul (Ex-DG ISI)

Discussion on sovereignty of Parliament and tabling of NRO in parliament; South Waziristan operation, Kerry-Lugar Bill; Guests: Sen Tariq Azeem (PML-Q), Nabeel Gabol (PPP) and Hanif Abbasi (PML-N)

Details of South Waziristan Operation recently launched and its dynamics and implications. Guests: Ayaz Wazir (Ex-Amb & Analyst) and Brig. (R) Mahmood Shah (Ex-Secy FATA), Dr Rasul Baksh Rais

Lack of Road Map to address security situation in the country; Many leaders but no leadership; Guests: Haroon Rasheed (Columnist), Maria Sultan (Security Analyst), Dr. Farrukh Saleem (Analyst) and Dr. Pervaiz Hoodbhoy (Prof Quaid-i-Azam Univ)