Musharaf said that the Taliban were now a far greater threat to Pakistan than Al Qaeda and slammed the US for the `trust deficit` between the two countries. - AP photo

`They had joined various factions of jihadi outfits including Taliban without informing their families. Many had gone into Indian Kashmir to participate in Jihad and many went to Afghanistan to fight on the side of Taliban. Most were brainwashed.`

The former chief of the Pakistani Army, General Musharraf while participating in Aljazeera`s David Frost Show on Friday night rejected the perception that the Army and the ISI were somehow involved in making people disappear and said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would finally come up with nothing in the case.

Answering a question on how he felt about the current situation in Pakistan he said he felt sad, despondent at whatever is happening in Pakistan today, `Pakistan is suffering.`

He, however, said Pakistan had the potential to fight back and all that is needed is for the government to win the confidence of the people in its ability to face terrorism and extremism and also in its ability to put the economy back on the rails.

In reply to another question he said he did not think there were more than 300-400 al Qaeda fighters holed up in the mountains of Pakistan`s tribal areas.

He said between the Taliban and al Qaeda he considered the former to be a more serious threat to Pakistan `because they are from among the population while the latter are foreigners and the local people are known to have supported the government in fighting them.`

He, however, said the Taliban could never overthrow the government in Islamabad, `Unless we commit a blunder. They should not be given any political space. If we keep giving them space they would keep gaining ground.`

He clarified that Nizam-i-Adal was nothing more than a system ensuring speedy and cheap justice to the people of Swat and `this system is to work within the country`s legal and constitutional boundaries.`

He said his actions since he took over the country in a military coup had been given legal and constitutional cover so there is no case against him as such and he did not think he would be put on the exit control list.

But he did not rule out a possibility of being persecuted by his political enemies and said, if some people want to go to court against him they are free to do so and he would face them in the court of law because he thought he had done no wrong.

He said he would advise his opponents to forget the past and look forward, `instead of getting bogged down in petty matters of revenge, we should all the doing our best to get the country out of its present morass.`

He said he did not oust Nawaz Sharif because he had gone to Washington to surrender the gains the army had made in Kargil, `though they accuse me of sending him to Washington for the purpose, but the fact is he went there on his own. As far the coup I was not even in the country, it was only when he tried to stop my plane bringing me from Sri Lanka from landing in any of Pakistani airstrips that the Army reacted and removed him.`

In reply to a question he said only 7-8 minute of gas was left in the plane when it finally landed at the Karachi airport, `the pilot had told me that if it entered an air pocket it would crash.`

He said in one respect the 9/11 helped him to counter the threat of Taliban, but the war on terror had distracted him from his real agenda for the country, `an agenda which was aimed at reforming the country`s civil institutions and improving its economy. I had been given three years by the courts but I could do much on this aspect because of distraction from the war on terror.`

He said the Indian distraction needed to be sorted out and claimed that during his regime the problem had almost been resolved, `I had signed a joint statement with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that we would not let terrorist incidents to undermine the reconciliation process.`

`But India created war hysteria soon after the Mumbai incident. We could have also said that Raw was involved in the Sri Lankan incident and created war hysteria but we did not. When you create war hysteria you widen the gulf between the people and then it becomes difficult to make the CBMs work.`
 
He said he had met Benazir Bhutto twice in UAE and both meetings were highly successful, `but she was not supposed to come back before the elections. I kept on informing her about the danger to her life. I even conveyed to her an UAE intelligence report, but she refused to accept the advice. When I stopped her from going to the place where she was finally shot down, her party made a lot of hue and cry. So, the Next time I did not stop her.`

When asked if he had any plans to enter politics, he said it was a difficult question to answer and said he would be the happiest man if things improved, but if he saw the country going into a tailspin he would not shirk from his responsibility.

He recalled that he had given a slogan to his countrymen, `Pakistan First` and said, it had caught on and became a popular slogan.

Answering another question he said he would not like to evaluate the performance of President Asif Ali Zardari but said he perhaps is doing his best and he perhaps also knows the problems the country was facing, `He has many challenges, extremism, terrorism, a bad economy and the Indian distraction.`

He said he was opposed to drone attacks by the US, `Pakistan army should be provided with the technical resources to take care of terrorists operating in the tribal areas.`

He said there was a trust deficit in the US about Pakistani Army and the ISI, `if you don`t have any confidence in the very institutions which are essential in the war against terror then how do you accomplish your objectives. So, I say to the US stop distrusting these institutions and provide them with the needed resources.`

In answer to another question he said he saw no difference in the Obama administration`s policy for the region from that of the Bush administration.