Musharraf calls NRO 'a glaring mistake' of political career

LONDON - Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that issuance of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) after agreement with political parties was a glaring mistake of his political life.

In an interview, he said that Pakistan could not oppose attacking Afghanistan after 9/11 and that siding with the United States in 2001 was the need of  the hour.

He went on to say that situation in the world had entirely changed after 9/11. India was ready to provide its airbases to the US if Pakistan did not provide its airbases for attacking Afghanistan, he held.

“I raised Kashmir issue with Indian former premiers Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh and this issue was heading towards its solution”, he underlined.

He stated that Lal Masjid operation and removing Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice of Pakistan were correct steps.

“ I have  no concern with May, 12 Karachi incidents and militant wings of political parties were involved  in them, he observed.

The US was mounting too much pressure for bringing Benazir to Pakistan, he said adding that Benazir Bhutto had returned to Pakistan by violating the agreement with him. Following the arrival of Benazir in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia mounted sufficient pressure to allow Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan.

“I could decide about the construction of Kalabagh dam in the first 3 years. I went up to Karachi, Sukkar and Hyderabad for developing consensus on the construction of Kalabagh dam. But during the remaining 5 years this problem could not be addressed due to the formation of the government, he pointed out.

He underlined that Altaf Hussain should now quit the party as he had no future in the politics of Pakistan.