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Reject personality cults in politics, says Musharraf

* Says Benazir, Nawaz failed to serve country
* Proposes Khyber as new name for NWFP
* Pakistan not interfering in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf has urged Pakistanis to reject personality-oriented politics and make way for new leadership.

In an interview with Pushto AVT Khyber channel shown on Friday, Musharraf said that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif twice had a chance to serve the country but “failed”.

“Every party is personality-based and unfortunately there is a void (in leadership) because of lack of democracy within the parties,” the president said.

Asked if Benazir and Nawaz would be allowed to return, the president said that there were cases against them in courts which they would have to face. He said one (Nawaz) had been sentenced to life-imprisonment while the other (Benazir) had non-bailable warrants out for her. He said that there was no bar on Benazir returning. “I am working to bring about sustainable democracy in Pakistan over and above party politics. I want to encourage every political party in the country.”

He said that his term as head of the state would end on November 15, 2007 and the next presidential elections should be held between September 15 and October 15, 2007.

Musharraf said the government had drawn up a wide-ranging strategy to combat extremism by strengthening the political set-up in the tribal region. “A military operation is not the answer to extremism. It has to be done through political administration,” he said.

He said that the entire political setup in the Federally Administered Areas (FATA) was being strengthened to achieve the desired objectives. He said the government would appoint competent political agents in tribal agencies. Musharraf said the government would spend Rs 10 billion every year on the development of FATA and had a roadmap on it. He said the government planned to have 12 more wings of the Frontier Corps while the Frontier Constabulary, that was working in various parts of the country, would be brought back.

Musharraf said the government had successfully countered Al Qaeda terrorists in cities and mountains, adding that the terrorists were now hiding in mountains in small groups and were being targeted by the military. Musharraf said Taliban were involved in spreading extremism in the tribal region. “Extremism was being practiced by Taliban. I think they have no single leadership. May be it is Mulla Omar who I think is in Afghanistan and they may have linkages here but there is no common leader here,” the president said.

Musharraf dismissed the impression, which he said was created by the media, that the government’s policies in Balochistan did not have support of the people. “The Bugti, Mengal and Marri (tribes) are not the whole of Balochistan. They are not even one-tenth of the province,” the president said. The president vowed to convert all ‘B Areas’ in Balochistan into ‘A’ to establish the government’s writ. “About 14 districts had been converted into A Areas,” he said.

The president agreed with a questioner that the NWFP should have a proper identity but suggested that the name of the province should be the one on which there was no dispute. Proposing ‘Khyber’ as a new name for the province, he said that the entire world was familiar with it.

He said Pakistan was helping Afghanistan in its reconstruction efforts and added that Pakistan was not interfering in its internal affairs.

Musharraf said no one knew where Osama Bin Laden was and “those who say he is in Pakistan, should come up with information and intelligence”. He said Osama could be anywhere in the world, however he presumed that Osama might be hiding in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. NNI

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