ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday reiterated the government's resolve to combat corruption and praised the National Accountability Bureau for its efforts to eradicate the menace at the highest level.

Addressing a workshop held at the Prime Minister's House as part of what was called an 'ethics retreat' for federal ministers and representatives of provincial governments, he expressed the hope that corruption at the lower level would also end as the country moved towards economic prosperity.

He claimed that corruption at the 'strategic level' had been eliminated. However, he said, it still existed at the 'tactical level,' adding that even the developed countries had been unable to end it.

NAB, he said, had done a remarkable job. "NAB is not a tool for political victimisation," he emphasised. The president said there was a culture of corruption during 1988-99.

Referring to the trend of money laundering and depositing plundered money in Western banks, he said he had raised the matter at the United Nations and during his visits to the West to get that money back. There had been some success in this regard, he added.

Corruption, he observed, was a bi-product of poverty and said the millennium development goals could not be achieved until poverty was alleviated. The government is taking measures to reduce poverty and efforts are being made to increase the yield and increase availability of irrigation water. In urban areas the focus is on creation of more jobs, industrialisation and investment.

The main malaise afflicting the country, he said, was nepotism and corruption. He cited examples where inflated estimates were prepared, but when projects were undertaken by the armed forces these were completed at one-third of the estimated cost.

Gen Musharraf told the workshop participants that during 1988-99, Rs1 trillion was used in the name of development, but no tangible progress could be seen on the ground.

Now, he said, mega-projects costing Rs350 billion, including the raising of the Mangla Dam, the Gwadar port and the coastal highway, were in different stages of completion.

Referring to the 'bradri' culture prevailing in the country, he said it must be done away with if the nation wanted to progress. The 'retreat', he said, was important as it showed the government's resolve to combat corruption at the national and international levels.

He said the country had abundant natural resources, but quality leadership was needed to make use of it. "You are the guardians of the destiny of this nation and together we must pledge to always keep Pakistan's interests supreme," he said.

He asked chief ministers to hold similar 'retreats' at the provincial level and expressed the confidence that cabinet members under the leadership of the prime minister would set highest standards of integrity.

GOOD GOVERNANCE: Later, talking to journalists, the president said the objective of the workshop was to motivate people towards good governance and discuss the roots of corruption and ways of eradicating it.

He described functional efficiency, absence of nepotism and honesty as three ingredients of good governance. In reply to a question, the president described corruption at the higher level as 'strategic corruption' that involved decision makers and billions of rupees.

He said a parliamentary committee on Balochistan under Pakistan Muslim League president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was looking into the issue of governance and administrative and political matters of the province to alleviate any sense of deprivation among people there. But, he added, protecting national assets and executing projects were the responsibility of the government which it would fulfil.

The president said it was the desire of the government to have normal political atmosphere in the country and efforts to this end would continue. He condemned the bomb attack in Lebanon in which former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri had been killed. -APP