Pervez Musharraf accuses Nawaz Sharif of supporting Baloch nationalists

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has accused former Premier Nawaz Sharif of supporting Baloch nationalist leaders, charging that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief was trying to draw "political mileage" from the Baloch unrest.

Musharraf, who has in the past alleged that India was backing the Baloch rebels, has once again said the that Jamhoori Watan Party leaders Shahzain Bugti and Brahamdagh Bugti were "getting arms from India through Afghanistan".

Participating in a talk show on a TV news channel, he also alleged that India was involved in fomenting unrest in Balochistan.

Musharraf claimed Shahzain Bugti's group and other Baloch factions had acquired missiles and anti-aircraft guns to battle the Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Army.

He criticised the PML-N's government in Punjab province and Sharif for supporting Baloch nationalists, describing it an act of "political mileage".

"They (Shahzain and his father Talal Bugti) get state protocol when they come to Punjab and stay at (Sharif's residence) Raiwind House as guests. Nawaz is supporting them just for his political mileage," Musharraf said.

The former president, who lives in self-exile in Britain, claimed: "India is also supporting various separatists and insurgent groups of the province and fuelling insurgency to destabilise Pakistan".

Musharraf had recently claimed in an interview that Pakistan had evidence of India's alleged involvement in the unrest in Balochistan, where nationalist leaders have been waging a campaign for a greater say in decision-making.

His claims were an apparent reason for the Indian government's recent decision to refuse him a visa to attend a conference in Delhi.

Musharraf further alleged during the talk show that Shahzain Bugti, who was recently arrested in Quetta for alleged possession of unlicensed weapons, was involved in the killing of Punjabis in Balochistan.

Asked about the summons issued to the Inter-Services Intelligence chief by US court in connection with a lawsuit filed by relatives of two Jewish victims of the Mumbai attacks, Musharraf endorsed the government's stance on not asking the spy agency's head to appear in court.

"The ISI chief should never appear before any US court... This is impossible, we are an independent country," he said.

The US court's action "is just like the Supreme Court of Pakistan summoning the head of America's CIA", he said.