WASHINGTON, Jan 29: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the US and its allies do not understand the threat of extremism and confuse terrorism with extremism.

In the second part of his joint interview to Newsweek and the Washington Post published on Sunday, Gen Musharraf regretted that there’s “a lot of loopholes” in the West’s understanding of the Muslim world.

He said the military action against Al-Qaeda only “buys you time” to utilize all other instruments to get to the core issues which were spawning terrorism.

“If we cannot see beyond terrorism, we will never succeed … We must deal with extremism … Extremism spawns terrorism,” said Gen Musharraf. “Is the United States thinking of addressing extremism? We don’t even understand what extremism is. We always confuse terrorism and extremism. Terrorism is one thing, extremism is another. Each needs a totally different strategy.”

Asked to explain what the strategy was, President Musharraf outlined a five-point programme that he said Pakistan was employing to fight both extremism and terrorism.

Explaining his strategy to fight extremism, he said: “(1) All these banned organizations: Don’t let them re-emerge, get hold of all their leaders. (2) Misuse of loudspeakers in mosques to spread hatred and militancy: Stop it. (3) Publications and hate material inciting people to militancy: Ban it, get hold of printers, publishers, distributors. (4) Syllabus and curriculum in our schools, which have led to sectarian disharmony [and] religious misunderstanding: Redo the syllabus where the real essence of Islam — which deals more with responsibilities to the nation and the family — is taught. (5) Reform the madressahs and mainstream students.”

He said Pakistan was the only country in the world that has adopted a strategy on how to combat terrorism and extremism.

Commenting on the US effort to defeat terrorism by military means, he said: “The military is not the ultimate answer — you can kill people, [but] you are not going to achieve anything. People think ‘Get Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri.’ You get Osama and Zawahiri, okay, you kill them tomorrow, I can assure you [that] you will have achieved nothing. Let it be very clear.”

He said that capturing or killing the two al Qaeda leaders will still leave the real issues unaddressed. “For heaven’s sake, let’s not be shortsighted. These two people mean nothing. Do you think the man sitting in these inaccessible mountains is commanding what to do in Spain and London? You are sadly mistaken … There is no milk and honey flowing after you get these two people.”

Gen Musharraf said that people in America were not aware of the environment of the area where Al Qaeda leaders were believed to be hiding and that’s why they did not understand why it’s so hard to find Osama bin Laden.

“There are very high mountains, between 10,000 and 15,000 feet, no communication infrastructure, and some people [are] abetting [them].” Asked to explain his assessment of the situation in Iraq, the president said that the Shias, Sunnis and the Kurds “must share power”. “We are for the integrity of Iraq and for representation and harmony among the three communities. How it is to be done is an issue.”

When the reporter asked had the US destabilized the region by entering Iraq, the president did not give a direct answer. Instead, he said that the Americans had held elections in that country, which was a good move. “The constitution is written. It is correct to be raising an Iraqi force. They need to strengthen it so the Iraqis gradually take over and the foreign troops — US and British — withdraw, ultimately leaving the area,” he added.

AP adds: President Musharraf condemned the Jan 13 Bajaur attack as an “issue of sovereignty” but acknowledged there may have been Al-Qaida members in the area.

The Jan. 13 missile strike in the tribal region of Bajur, near the Afghan border, is believed to have killed four or five Arabs as well as 13 villagers, spurring condemnation from Islamic groups.

“This was definitely not coordinated with us,” the newspaper quoted Musharraf as saying. “We condemn it and have objected to it as an issue of sovereignty. (But) we do know there are foreigners and Al-Qaida in that (area). It is my regret that there are (such) people there.”