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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (19989)	12/15/2003 10:15:06 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 793739

India thinks he faked it. Hindustani Times Musharraf may have engineered life bid to retain US support Asian News International Islamabad, December 15 Contrary to claims made by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that a bomb blast at a bridge near Rawalpindi was directed specifically at him, highly placed sources in Islamabad say that he may have engineered the incident to retain Washington's support as key ally in the war against terror and to strengthen his hold on power. The sources, on conditions of anonymity, further went on to say that it was ironical that no one had as yet claimed responsibility for the blast. It was also inexplicable that the incumbent establishment was continuing to maintain a stoic silence about who may have been behind the so-called assassination bid. It was their suspicion that Musharraf may have used the "bid on his life" to convince the United States that he was still their best hope in Pakistan and in the South Asian region for cooperation as far as tackling the menace of global terrorism is concerned. Domestically too, Musharraf may have wanted to send a message across to the Bush Administration that attempts to remove him from power at this juncture, could damage efforts to usher in a democratic, secular system of government, especially in the wake of reports that religious extremism and militant activity were raising their ugly heads again. On Sunday, Musharraf described the explosion that occurred after his presidential motorcade had passed as a "terrorist act". "When I came back from my tour of Sindh and as I was going back from Chaklala and we crossed the Amar Chowk Bridge, there was an explosion just half a minute or one minute after we crossed. I felt the explosion in my car. That is all that I know, except of course that it was certainly a terrorist act and certainly it was me who was targeted." He said that such incidents were not new to him, adding that it was the third attempt on his life since he had assumed power in a bloodless coup on October 12, 1999. "Let me say with confidence, I am used to ... such incidents have happened before also," he said. He described the incident as the work of religious and sectarian extremists within the country itself. "It is these extremist, these terrorists, these militants who are out to not only damage our nation but bring a bad name to our religion. The greatest danger to our nation is not external. It is internal and it comes from religious and sectarian extremism and this is a typical example of that. This is what I always say. We have to guard against it and we have to fight all these people with all our might," he said. Musharraf, according to the sources still saw himself as a key ally in the US-led war on terror, and has been reminding Washington that he has unhesitatingly been behind the international and nation-wide hunt for remnants of the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda, many of whom have been handed over to US custody. They include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks caught in Rawalpindi earlier this year. The hunt goes on for al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, believed by some to be along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Musharraf allowed democratic elections to be held in October 2002 to re-establish a civilian government after he led a bloodless military coup in 1999, but a pro-military party won and the Prime Minister is perceived as weak. A Karachi court convicted three Islamic militants in October for carrying out a failed assassination attempt on Musharraf last year, handing down 10-year jail terms to each of them. The militants belonged to the al-Almi faction of Harkat-ul Mujahideen, a group that is also blamed for masterminding a suicide attack outside the US consulate in Karachi the same year in which 12 Pakistanis died. Last month, Musharraf outlawed six militant groups after US complaints that they had re-emerged under new names following a previous ban. hindustantimes.com