Musharraf now ready to tackle extremists
Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf said today he was in a much stronger position now to campaign against religious extremists in his Muslim nation than during a limited crackdown in 2002.
“I am in a totally different environment,” said Musharraf, whose security forces have arrested nearly 600 suspected militants in the past 10 days. The president plans a stricter oversight of religious schools where extremist are thought to be active.
He made his comments while briefing foreign journalists in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital, Islamabad.
Musharraf, who again today strongly condemned the terrorist bombings in Britain and Egypt, has been criticised by some Western officials who believe he should have been tougher on extremists after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the US.
But Musharraf said he did not have “a free hand” in 2002 because of an unstable economy, a confrontation with India over Kashmir and insufficient international support for his presidency.
“Maybe the boat would have capsized” if the government had pursued the campaign against domestic militants more aggressively in 2002, he said. “We took action but there were restraining factors.”
Musharraf, who turned Pakistan from antagonist to key ally of the US in the war on terror after the attacks against New York and Washington, also outlined his government’s plans to detain the leaders of banned extremist groups and to prevent the use of mosques for inciting extremism.
But he acknowledged that “we are not going as fast as I would like to go”.
Talking about Islamabad’s successes in war on terror, Musharraf said Pakistan had “broken the vertical and horizontal command and communication links of al Qaida, which means that they have ceased to exist as a homogenous, well-controlled, centralised force”.
When asked about the ongoing peace process with neighbouring rival India, Musharraf said progress was being made despite rhetoric to the contrary.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the peace process will continue,” he said.
