ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: The media managers of two major opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), on Wednesday criticised President Gen Pervez Musharraf for backtracking on his claim regarding receiving money from CIA in return of Al Qaeda suspects and for revealing nuclear secrets in his book.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said Gen Musharraf would soon be backtracking the whole book. He said this proved that “Gen Musharraf did things without thinking and then realised the consequences and that was when he ventured into the Kargil conflict.”

PPP information secretary Sherry Rehman, when contacted, termed it “a shocking reversal” saying it had further proved that the book had no credibility at all. “After backtracking from his own claim, there is nothing left in the book to believe,” she said.

It may be mentioned that during a TV interview, Gen Musharraf first denied that he had written the words “government of Pakistan”, and when the interviewer quoted excerpts from the book he took his claim back and said “the government of Pakistan had not received anything from the CIA”.

Earlier, Ahsan Iqbal in a statement said Gen Musharraf had disclosed vital national secrets in his book and the most serious matter was his divulgence of nuclear secrets. He said in his book on pages 97-98, Gen Musharraf writes, “I can also say with authority that in 1999 our nuclear capability was not yet operational. Merely exploding a bomb doesn’t mean that you are operationally capable of deploying nuclear force in the field and delivering a bomb across the border over a selected target.”

Mr Iqbal said this book would prove to be Musharraf’s Waterloo as he had violated official secrecy act and his oath yet again. “Such irresponsible statement which makes a definitive assessment of the nuclear capability regardless of the actual position even most incompetent ruler can’t think of making,” he said.

Mr Iqbal said Gen Musharraf had indulged in character assassination of Dr A.Q. Khan at a time when he was fighting cancer. “This is inhuman, unethical, and unpatriotic act. Gen Musharraf has also alleged that Indians were working for Dr Khan, which is a ridiculous claim. Just as Gen Musharraf has unilaterally levelled serious allegations against Dr A.Q. Khan, justice demands that he be freed to provide him an opportunity to explain his position to the nation,” he added.

Moreover, he said, the account about Kargil was full of contradictions. “On one place he mentions Mujahideen while on the other occasion he refers to his troops holding the heights. He fails to identify who exactly briefed the prime minister on Kargil issue. If he is so sure of the Kargil events, why doesn’t he allow an independent inquiry of the incident to determine whether it was his solo adventure or whether the prime minister was on board. Gen Musharraf has lied to the nation to justify his actions,” he said.

The PML-N leader said the book was his admission of the unconstitutional acts starting from the overthrow of a democratic government to formation of king’s party by horse trading under his orders. He said the plane hijacking drama had been played up in the book to arouse sympathy. It was actually Gen Musharraf not letting the pilot land because he was not sure who was controlling the ground. Therefore, the first piece of evidence that was destroyed was the recordings of the black box which contained cockpit conversation.”

Information secretary of the PPP Sherry Rehman, in her statement, rubbished Gen Pervez Musharraf’s memoirs as factually incorrect and a breach of his presidential oath, making him guilty of abuse of power by writing about state matters that must be protected under constitutional obligation.

“Is Gen Musharraf entitled to take a public stance in a foreign country on important issues some of which may still be officially classified and state secrets under the law?” she asked, adding that his one-sided account in the absence of authentic and documented information on the events about which he had written would stir damaging controversy.

Rubbishing Gen Musharraf’s claim of restoring democracy in Pakistan, Ms Rehman said by admitting in his book that he had created the PML-Q to counter PPP, he was in fact guilty of another constitutional breach. “His claim that Shaheed ZA Bhutto was responsible for Pakistan’s break-up in 1971 is an example of historical illiteracy and factual inaccuracy,’ she said, adding the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report had clearly identified who really was responsible for Pakistan’s dismemberment.