Musharraf has said that despite taking the "lead role"
in fighting the war on terror, his country is being "treated unequally."
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has said that despite taking the "lead role"
in fighting the war on terror, his country is being "treated unequally", hurting the country's leadership and people.
"Pakistan is being treated so unequally while we are the ones who are in the lead role fighting the global war on terror," Musharraf said.
"This is what hurts Pakistan. It hurts the leadership. Indeed, it hurts the government. It hurts the people of Pakistan," he told CNN in an interview.
Musharraf is currently on tour to the US. He was very critical of the US missile strikes inside Pakistan, the latest of which was fired on Friday which killed seven people.
"Nobody in Pakistan is comfortable with the strikes across the border. There is no doubt in that. Public opinion is very much against it," he said.
Observing that public opinion in Pakistan is against such methodology being adopted by the US, Musharraf said, "We have to find a …. this satisfied the public opinion as well as our resolve to fight terrorism."
"But as far as this issue of the new president Obama having taken over and this continuing -- but I have always been saying that policies don't change with personalities;
policies have national interest, and policies depend on an environment," he added.
Earlier this week the new Obama administration had put Pakistan on notice, and said that Islamabad would be held accountable for the security in the border regions of
Afghanistan and its performance in the war on terror would be linked to the US non-military financial aid.
"(President Barack) Obama and (vice president Joe) Biden will increase non-military aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with
Afghanistan," White House had said in its foreign policy agenda document released soon after Obama had occupied the Oval office.
"So the environment and national interest of the US being the same, I thought policies will remain constant. But however, we have to find a way out towards … dealing with Al Qaida and Taliban," he said.
When asked about the USD 10 billion US aid to Pakistan, Musharraf said that this is a "pittance" given Pakistan's contribution role in the war against terrorism.
"Please don't think that this USD 10 billion was such a great amount that we ought to be eternally grateful while we know that we deserve much more and we should have got much more and we must get much more if we are to fight the global war on terror," he said.
Musharraf emphasised that for 42 years, up until 1989, Pakistan had been a "strategic partner" of the US. But many Pakistanis felt abandoned by the US after the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan. Musharraf said the 1989 "peace dividend" went to Europe -- East Europe.
Pakistan was "left alone" from 1989 to 2001, and during that period, the militant Taliban movement took control of Afghanistan, he said to CNN.
Asked why al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is thought to be somewhere in the border region, hasn't been found, he replied, "I would like to ask the United States why
he hasn't been found. They have their intelligence. There are -- you have more intelligence capability. I would like to ask the United States, why Mullah Omar has not been found, who is the leader of all of the Taliban in Afghanistan?"
Musharraf however, admitted that there were "sanctuaries" in Pakistan for Al-Qaeda, which combined with mountainous terrain "makes the task difficult" of flushing out
the militants.
){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}