OSLO, Jan 24: Washington has assured Islamabad that it will not harm Pakistan’s interests after a US missile strike, aimed at suspected Al Qaeda militants, killed at least 18 people, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday.
President Musharraf said during a visit to Oslo that Pakistan’s armed forces were capable of combating Al Qaeda militants on Pakistani territory without outside interference.
He said Pakistan contacted the United States after the US strike on Jan 13 killed at least 18 people, most of them civilians, in a Bajaur Agency village.
“Yes, indeed, they do assure that they will not act against Pakistan’s interest,” he told a seminar at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, without giving details. The strike had aimed to kill Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“We don’t want interference in Pakistan ... only Pakistan forces will act,” said President Musharraf.
Pakistan had demanded assurances that US forces would not attack again across the border from Afghanistan.
Gen Musharraf also said that initial studies indicated that some Al Qaeda fighters were killed in the strike.
“There is indication that there were also people of Al Qaeda who were killed. I’m not 100 per cent sure of that,” he said without saying how many or who they were.
President Musharraf dismissed criticism by some opposition politicians that his government was too servile in allying itself with US President Bush’s war on terror. He said that Pakistan was acting in its own interests.
RENAISSANCE: “We are first of all doing something for ourselves,” he said, adding that peace was a condition for economic growth.
He said that only a long-term ‘Muslim Renaissance’ could defuse the threat from religious extremism.
He said military action against mountain hideouts of militants was only a short-term fix. “We are trying to introduce a ‘Muslim Renaissance’ as I call it,” he said after earlier talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
Among measures, he said Pakistan would seek to promote economic growth and respect for the rule of law while undercutting militant clerics. Such a renaissance would enable Pakistanis to understand the true peace-loving nature of Islam.
President Musharraf also said that his country had done more than any other to crack down on Al Qaeda, arresting 700 militants and deploying more than 50,000 troops to scour trackless mountainous areas where, he said, British colonialists never dared to venture.
“We are succeeding. It will take some time, you have to show patience,” he said. “There are no limits. We will go anywhere.”
He also said that Pakistan did not feel any threat from Iran amid international worries about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“Iran is our neighbour. There is no threat from Iran to Pakistan. However, there is a world concern — Pakistan is against nuclear proliferation.”
ECONOMIC TIES: Pakistan and Norway pledged on to expand their ties in political and economic fields as President Musharraf discussed ways with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg for invigorating cooperation in various fields.
The two leaders meeting at the Norwegian Prime Minister’s Office, agreed on tapping vast potential for trade and investment cooperation, which they saw as promising and mutually beneficial.
Mr Stoltenberg described the president’s visit as a special occasion in terms of advancing bilateral ties and also announced swapping of $20 million debt Pakistan had to pay to Norway with earthquake relief assistance, said a press stake-out.
During the formal talks, they also exchanged views on international issues of common concern as President Musharraf informed the host leader about Islamabad’s emphasis and policies on establishment of peace for long-term progress in South Asia and the world at large.
“The two countries have a consonance of approach and views on international issues,” President Musharraf said in post-talks comments.
He referred to the opportunities existing in various sectors and said Norwegian investors would be facilitated in doing business in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg warmly received the president on his arrival for formal talks and hoped that it would impart a new impetus to bilateral ties in political, economic and diplomatic areas.
“We discussed possibilities for increasing cooperation in telecommunication, hydro power, social and energy sectors,” said the leader of the third largest oil producing country of the world.
KASHMIR ISSUE: President Musharraf emphasized the crucial need for showing flexibility to resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute and said demilitarization and self-governance offered a good arrangement.
Rigidity on stated positions would never lead to peace in South Asia, he told a select gathering of intelligentsia and senior journalists at the Nobel Institute.
“If we keep going rigidly on our stated positions, we will never reach peace. We have to step back, all of us (India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people),” the president said.
President Musharraf had the distinct honour of addressing the gathering at the Institute of international repute where only Nobel laureates are invited to speak.
Replying to a question, the president did not support the idea of independent Kashmir which, he added, might not be achievable as it would not be acceptable to India and Pakistan for many reasons.
President Musharraf described his proposals of self-governance and demilitarization of Kashmir as the kind of solutions that require a ‘minor step back’.
Referring to rigidity on stated positions, he said that autonomy within the Indian constitution was not acceptable to either Pakistan or the Kashmiri people themselves.
Similarly, he pointed to the Indian stance of no change in boundaries and to Pakistan’s position against changing the Line of Control (LoC) into a permanent border.
“We have to come out with something which is acceptable to the people of Kashmir who demand independence. We need to see what are the ingredients of self-governance and give them maximum including de-militarization and security to the people,” he said.
He said any solution that was not acceptable to one of the stakeholders would never succeed.
The president reiterated Pakistan’s desire for peace in the region and said it was not only in the interest of the two countries but also in the interest of the region and the world.
MILITANTS: Addressing a large gathering of Pakistani community here on Monday, President Musharraf said Pakistan would move strongly against foreign terror operatives and not allow anyone to use its soil for carrying out subversive acts anywhere in the world.
“We will flush out all foreign terror operatives who try to hide in the mountains of our tribal areas,” he said and added: “We cannot allow extremism and terrorism in the country … and are countering them through a comprehensive strategy.”
On fighting extremism, the president said it had to be addressed through a combination of short and long-term measures and counted a host of steps including ban on extremist organizations, ban on distribution of hate material and an effective check on misuse of loudspeakers at places of worship.
President Musharraf called upon all to curb misuse of mosque loudspeakers for fanning feelings of hatred and discord.
Dilating on his water vision, he said Pakistan would benefit enormously from construction of Bhasha and Munda dams, but it needed to build more reservoirs, including Kalabagh.—Agencies
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