Islamabad, Oct 14: President Pervez Musharraf has given assurances that Pakistan will not be swayed from its frontline role in the US-led war on terror by anti-US Islamic parties who swept to Parliament in last week's elections.
"Pakistan is and will remain a key member of the
coalition against international terror," General Musharraf was
quoted as saying today by the news daily in an address at a
Turkish military ceremony in Istanbul.
"Pakistan will continue to be in the forefront on war
against terrorism," the state-run associated press of Pakistan
quoted him as saying.
Musharraf was in Turkey for the economic cooperation
organisation summit.
A huge surge of support to fundamentalist Islamic
parties gave them power in two provincial legislatures
bordering Afghanistan, where hundreds of al-Qaeda fugitives
are being hunted, and landed them the power- broker role in
the federal Parliament with 16.5 per cent of seats.
The Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) six-party alliance
vowed throughout the campaign to end Pakistan's role in the
US-led war to crush the Taliban and al-Qaeda by expelling US
troops from Pakistani airbases and ceasing the hunt for
fugitives along the Afghan border.
Musharraf also vowed to respect the verdict of the
voteers saying elected legislators would be running the
government by the first week of November.
"We will run the country with honesty and on the basis
of merit. We feel confident that the path of progress will be
continued by the elected government," Musharraf said.
Bureau Report
