The September 11th attack | America strikes back
Pakistan downplays talk of backlash
Bloomberg News
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf backed U.S.-led strikes against suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan and downplayed concern he faces an Islamic backlash for his support.
Associated Press
Speaking to reporters for the first time since U.S. planes struck camps in neighboring Afghanistan last night, Musharraf said the attacks targeted terrorist camps, not cities, and weren't aimed at Afghan civilians.
Pakistani paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets of Lahore after the United States and Britain launched strikes on Afghanistan.
Any backlash from fundamentalist Pakistani groups for backing the U.S. strike will be "very, very controllable," he said. In one such demonstration, police used tear gas to disperse about 10,000 protesters in the city of Quetta, which lies near the border with Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse said. Protesters in Peshawar, also a border town, have also taken to the streets.
Pakistan air space was used for the attacks against Afghanistan, he said, though not any of its bases. He linked an end to terrorism to solving disputes in Kashmir and in Palestine.
An ideal campaign would be a "short, sharp action," followed by a political solution, Musharraf said, with the eventual aim being a "friendly" Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance, which is fighting the nation's Taliban leaders, must be kept in check or risk anarchy, he said. A guerrilla war isn't likely to break out after the attacks.
The Pakistan president also suggested that the nation won't be willing to accept an unlimited number of refugees, saying future refugee camps should be built in Afghanistan.
Northern Alliance
He opposed the Northern Alliance that is fighting Taliban forces as an alternative to the current regime.
If the void left by the Taliban "is filled by the Northern Alliance with all the military assistance they get from various countries whom we know, I think we will return to anarchy and the atrocities and the criminal treating of each other again."
Musharraf said the Northern Alliance needed to be restrained.
"Certainly, the Northern Alliance must be kept in check so that we don't return to the period of anarchy."
He also sought a resolution to the conflicts over Palestine and Kashmir.
"I certainly rate Palestine and Kashmir as major disputes in the world which need to be resolved so we address and attack the root causes of terrorism."
The president said the majority of Pakistanis supported his backing for the U.S.-led coalition against terror and the latest attacks on Afghanistan.
"I know the reality on ground. I am very sure that the vast majority is with me," he said.
Demonstrations
The demonstrations against the U.S. are not representative of the majority of the population.
"It is a minority of the extremists who are doing this. The security arrangements in Islamabad are preventive," he said.
Pakistan has deployed security forces and police to contain street protests by supporters of hard-line religious parties after yesterday's U.S.-led air strikes in neighboring Afghanistan.
Besides the demonstrations in Quetta, about 1,000 people from the Islamic University marched in Karachi. Protests will be held in Pakistan and the entire Muslim world, Qazi Hussain Ahmed leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party said after the raids on Afghanistan.
The government sent troops to protect oil and port installations as well as multinational companies, foreign consulates and state-run banks in Karachi, the financial capital of the country, Tariq Jamil, the deputy inspector of police said.
