Islamabad: Former president Pervez
Musharraf has said that military aid provided by the US to
Pakistan for the war against terror during his tenure had been
used to strengthen defences against India, the first such
admission by any top Pakistani leader.
Musharraf admitted that he had violated rules
governing the use of the military aid, and justified his
actions by saying he had "acted in the best interest of
Pakistan."
In an interview with a news channel, he said he "did
not care" whether the US would be angered by his disclosure.
The former military ruler, who resigned as President
in August last year to avoid impeachment, said he was not
ready to compromise on Pakistan`s interests.
India and several influential lawmakers in the US have
been saying that Pakistan had used funds given to it by the US
to take on militants to strengthen its defences against India.
However, Pakistan had been denying the charges.
Musharraf said that if he had not supported the US in
the war against terror after the 9/11 attacks, American forces
could have entered Pakistan to capture its nuclear assets. He
said it was also possible that the US and India could have
jointly attacked the country.
Musharraf said Pakistan`s nuclear programme was so
advanced during his tenure that scientists had not only begun
enriching uranium but had also developed plutonium-based
weapons.
Asked about scientist AQ Khan`s claim that he had
been forced to make a confession about running a nuclear
proliferation network, Musharraf said Khan "had done a lot but
he was lying that he was forced to apologise before the
nation".
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar
refused to comment on Musharraf`s statements immediately,
saying he would first speak to the Foreign Office on the
issue.
"I will leave it to the Foreign Office for a while to
comment on it. I think I should not in this point of time.
"I will at a later stage but I think let me first speak
with the Foreign Office because what I saw in the papers was
in the Urdu papers and was reported differently and in English
papers it was reported differently," he said.
Bureau Report
