Worst Job in the World

It appeared that former President Pervez Musharraf was riding a tiger with Pakistani-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ul-Dawa. He would promise senior U.S. officials that he would control such groups, but he did not do enough. Can your government do more?
Certainly, yes. We have already arrested the main leaders of Jamaat-ul-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba. We have frozen their accounts and put them in jail and are investigating their affairs. (Article continued below...)

But can the civilian government overcome the Army's sympathy for these groups?
The military and the civilian governments … are totally in line with each other and there is no difference of opinion. They are one and the same.

You are having trouble with your economy, aren't you?
Certainly, yes. When the oil prices went up and the food commodities also went up, we had problems … We are a frontline state fighting against terrorism and extremism, and we are paying a heavy price for that … One suicide-bomb attack creates a flight of capital, and no investment.

The world should look after us, and the world should know that we are catering to the needs of 3.5 million Afghan refugees.

What do you need from America?
From the U.S., I can say that the Biden-Lugar bill should be expedited. It provides funds for development assistance to troubled areas of the world.

Is there anything you have to say about the attack on Mumbai?
We were having excellent relations with India. We were on good terms with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But with this incident all of our confidence-building measures became futile. Now you can imagine who is the beneficiary of this—the terrorists. Therefore, I assure you and I assure India and I assure the world that whatever information has been given to us, we will probe into it and whoever was involved we will try according to our laws, and we will not allow our territory to be used for terrorism.

© 2009