Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 23:31:03 -0500
From: Chuck Munson <chuck-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: Fwd: Musharraf on Kabul


Oops! Instant quagmire.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Musharraf on Kabul
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 19:06:29 -0800
From: "Ian Murray" <seamus2001-AT-home.com>
Reply-To: lbo-talk-AT-lists.panix.com
To: "Lbo-Talk-AT-Lists. Panix. Com" <lbo-talk-AT-lists.panix.com>

Musharraf shocked by 'occupation'

Angry general flies home to face critics

Luke Harding in Islamabad
Wednesday November 14, 2001
The Guardian

Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, last night
expressed his dismay that the Northern Alliance had been allowed to
seize Kabul and said a UN peacekeeping force should be sent in as soon
as possible to stop opposition troops from "occupying" the city.

Speaking in Turkey, Gen Musharraf said Kabul should be rapidly
"demilitarised" to prevent the "atrocities of the past" from being
repeated. The UN force should be made up of troops from Muslim
countries.

"In the past there has been fighting among these ethnic groups.
Pakistan and Turkey must do what they can to prevent this," he added.

Earlier, Pakistan's foreign affairs spokesman, Aziz Ahmad Khan, said
no single group could bring peace to Afghanistan, and a broad-based
multi-ethnic government should take over as soon as possible.
"Pakistan holds to the view that the Northern Alliance forces must not
occupy Kabul."

The Northern Alliance has made little secret of its hostility to
Pakistan's military regime, which until two months ago was the
Taliban's most crucial ally. Over the past five years Pakistan's
powerful ISI intelligence agency has secretly given the Taliban vital
military support and advice.

Gen Musharraf dumped the Taliban in the wake of the September 11
attacks. In a visit to New York on Monday, he urged President Bush not
to allow the Northern Alliance to seize Kabul, a strategy swept away
by events. Privately, Pakistani diplomats admit that they feel
betrayed by their new allies in Washington, who failed to halt the
alliance's advance.

Gen Musharraf yesterday pointed to the alliance's barbarous record
during its last stint in power in Kabul between 1992-94. He is deeply
concerned that unless members of the Pashtun ethnic majority play a
leading role in government Pakistan faces the prospect of a hostile
neighbour. "Pashtun representation is important," he said in Istanbul
last night, before flying back to Islamabad for talks with senior
advisers.

"The capture of Kabul by the anti-Pakistan opposition alliance will
have negative implications for the country," Samiul Haq, a leading
Pakistani Islamist cleric and head of the pro-Taliban Afghan Defence
Council, said last night.

Hameed Gul, former head of Pakistan's intelligence agency, yesterday
accused America of deceiving Pakistan, which had "no control of the
situation". Gen Musharraf "should do a lot of explaining", he added.