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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SirRealist who wrote (40541)	9/19/2001 1:54:57 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

At a gathering the president apprised the select gathering that the US authorities had conveyed on 11th Spt, in categorical terms that Islamabad's decision would determine its future relationship with Washington. President Musharraf said the US had fixed a tight deadline for meeting its demands of extending support, including the use of Pakistan's airspace, logistics and intelligence information, in its fight against terrorism. A refusal could have serious consequences for the country, and there were fears of direct military action by a coalition against Afghanistan and Pakistan, the president said. The participants were informed by the president that he had talked to leaders of friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia and UAE, and was also in touch with Iran and other countries. Some of the participants were of the view that the president should have consulted a cross section of society before taking any decision. Those who were invited were Sahibzada Yaqoob Ali Khan, Agha Shahi, Dr Bhatti, Dr Mubashir, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Ayaz, Lt-Gen Nishat, Lt-Gen Lodhi, Sartaj Aziz, Gen (retd) K.M. Arif, Dr Rifat Hussain and Laiq Ahmed. "Friend or foe?" This was in effect the one-line question which President Musharraf was posed by the US when he was woken up by a telephone call from Washington at midnight following terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, said a politician who had met the president on Sunday. Sources close to the government said the US had left the president with no option other than extending the fullest support to Washington's endeavours against terrorists. President Musharraf explained that he had a very limited choice as the US administration wanted him to reply in definite terms. President Musharraf told the leaders that he had to say that Pakistan and the United States had been friends, and the brutal acts of terrorism had shocked the whole world. He apprised the political leaders that the US administration had demanded concrete actions as a proof of friendship. The measures that Washington wanted Islamabad to take included allowing American troops to use Naval facilities and airspace and sharing of all intelligence reports about Osama bin Laden's movement inside Afghanistan. Otherwise, the president told the politicians, Washington had warned that it would treat Pakistan as a country harbouring terrorists. In that case, the president said, no strategic installations would have remained safe. "I could not take that risk," the source quoted President Musharraf as having said. The president said that he could risk his life but he could not put the whole country at risk. The US authorities had also conveyed to President Musharraf that they had the technological capability to smoke out the Taliban or Osama out of their holes.