Musharraf hit out at his Afghan counterpart on Friday, saying on US television he was "very angry" at criticism of Pakistani progress in fighting cross-border terrorism.
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf hit out at his Afghan counterpart on Friday, saying on US television he was "very angry" at criticism of Pakistani progress in fighting cross-border terrorism.
"Pakistan is being maligned by the West... unfairly" in criticism that it is not doing enough to root out terrorists on its soil and to help crush the Taliban Islamist movement in Afghanistan, Musharraf told CBS television news.
He blamed the criticism on a "total lack of understanding of the environment and reality by President (Hamid) Karzai himself." Asked if he was "angry" with Afghanistan's US-backed leader, he replied: "Yes, indeed. Very angry."
Musharraf, an army general who took power in a military coup in 1999, is an ally of the United States in its anti-terrorism drive launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
He has since come under intense pressure from Washington to catch fighters linked to the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda network who are said to be hiding out on Pakistani soil.
Insurgents have been retreating into Pakistan across its volatile western border after launching attacks on Afghanistan, where US and other NATO-led forces face a resurgent offensive by the Taliban.
But Musharraf dismissed as "absolute nonsense" a claim by Karzai that the wanted Taliban leader Mullah Omar -- a close ally of Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden -- was hiding out in Pakistan.
Parts of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan are lawless tribal zones not controlled by the central authorities. But Pakistan has signed peace deals with some of the Islamic clans, despite criticism from Western allies.
Musharraf said on Thursday that tribesmen in the South Waziristan tribal area had killed 300 foreign militants of the Al-Qaeda network, with help from the Pakistani military.
But he rejected "absolutely and totally" on Friday the prospect of a joint US-Pakistan military operation to pursue retreating insurgents inside Pakistan.
"The whole population of Pakistan will rise against it," he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}