West will fail in 'war on terror' without Pakistan: Musharraf
LONDON, Sept 30, 2006 (AFP) - The United States and its allies will
fail in the so-called "war on terror" without the support of Pakistan
and its intelligence service, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said
Saturday.
In an interview with BBC radio, Musharraf was asked for his response
to the view that Pakistan was not a good ally in the fight against
global extremism because of the links between terrorism and his country.
"You will be brought down to your knees if Pakistan doesn't
co-operate with you. That is all that I would like to say. Pakistan is
the main ally. If we were not with you, you would not manage anything.
Let that be clear," he said.
"And if the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) is not with you, you
will fail. Let that be very clear also. Remember my words: if the ISI is
not with you and Pakistan is not with you will lose in Afghanistan."
Musharraf recorded the interview after talks with British Prime
Minister Tony Blair in London on Thursday.
The meeting came following a leaked British defence ministry
think-tank report that claimed the ISI was indirectly supporting
extremism in Afghanistan, Iraq and Britain by backing the MNA coalition
of Pakistani religious parties.
Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, again strongly denied
the claims, which were written by a senior military official linked to
Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6, after a fact-finding
mission there in June.
The president accepted Blair's assurances that the document was not a
reflection of the British government position. |