Musharraf Warns U.S. Not To Trespass
President Pervez Musharraf warned U.S. troops would be regarded as invaders if they crossed into Pakistan to hunt al Qaeda militants and said he would resign if opposition parties tried to impeach him after next month's elections.
Musharraf's remarks in an interview with Singapore's The Straits Times published Friday came as police investigated a suicide attack a day earlier in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 24 people, adding to pressures on the former general as he struggles to stay in office eight years after seizing power in military coup.
Pakistan is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on militants in its tribal regions close to the Afghan border.
The rugged area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as an operating ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to peruse aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area.
Musharraf told the Straits Times that U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site.
"If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty of Pakistan. I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he said in the interview in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. "They would regret that day."
Musharraf is also under gathering domestic political pressure.
The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the other main opposition grouping are predicted to make gains in the Feb. 18 polls. They have vowed to oust Musharraf if they emerge as winners. Musharraf is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the constitution last year.
"If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I'd be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn't like to stick around," he said. "I would like to quit the scene."
"With such bloody violence taking place in Pakistan, there must be questions on security conditions as this country heads towards elections," one Western diplomat told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on condition of anonymity.
At least 20 suicide bombers have struck in the past three months, killing 400 people, many of them from the security forces - the most intense period of terror strikes here since Pakistan allied with the U.S. in its war against al Qaeda and other extremist groups in 2001.
Lahore police chief investigator Tasaddaq Hussain said the mutilated head of the suicide bomber had been recovered and would be reconstructed for identification. The bomber's other body parts were being examined by forensic experts to extract DNA, he said.
"This is an act of terrorism and militants are to be blamed for it," he said Friday.
Police said the attacker got into the midst of some 70 officers in riot gear and detonated explosives on his body, spewing shrapnel in a blast that sprawled mangled bodies in pools of blood. All but three of the dead were police officers.
"There was a huge bang," said Munrian Bibi, 60, a school cleaner caught in the blast as she headed home from work. "I saw people falling on ground crying for help. I don't know what saved my life from that hell," she said in a hospital where she was treated for leg wounds.
There was no claim of responsibility. The government has blamed previous attacks on Islamic radicals allied with al Qaeda and the Taliban sheltering in the tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Musharraf blamed the same militants for the Dec. 27 gun and suicide bomb attack that killed Bhutto, a secular former prime minister who had repeatedly pledged to battle Islamic extremism in this country of 160 million people.
Bhutto's supporters have questioned whether elements within the government may have had a role in the opposition leader's slaying after a campaign rally, and are demanding an independent U.N. investigation. To allay critics, Musharraf last week invited British police to help investigate the attack.
? MVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Musharraf's remarks in an interview with Singapore's The Straits Times published Friday came as police investigated a suicide attack a day earlier in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 24 people, adding to pressures on the former general as he struggles to stay in office eight years after seizing power in military coup.
Pakistan is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on militants in its tribal regions close to the Afghan border.
The rugged area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as an operating ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to peruse aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area.
Musharraf told the Straits Times that U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site.
"If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty of Pakistan. I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he said in the interview in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. "They would regret that day."
Musharraf is also under gathering domestic political pressure.
The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the other main opposition grouping are predicted to make gains in the Feb. 18 polls. They have vowed to oust Musharraf if they emerge as winners. Musharraf is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the constitution last year.
"If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I'd be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn't like to stick around," he said. "I would like to quit the scene."
"With such bloody violence taking place in Pakistan, there must be questions on security conditions as this country heads towards elections," one Western diplomat told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on condition of anonymity.
Thursday's blast targeting police officers outside the Lahore High Court was the latest in a series of bloody attacks in the country.
At least 20 suicide bombers have struck in the past three months, killing 400 people, many of them from the security forces - the most intense period of terror strikes here since Pakistan allied with the U.S. in its war against al Qaeda and other extremist groups in 2001.
Lahore police chief investigator Tasaddaq Hussain said the mutilated head of the suicide bomber had been recovered and would be reconstructed for identification. The bomber's other body parts were being examined by forensic experts to extract DNA, he said.
"This is an act of terrorism and militants are to be blamed for it," he said Friday.
Police said the attacker got into the midst of some 70 officers in riot gear and detonated explosives on his body, spewing shrapnel in a blast that sprawled mangled bodies in pools of blood. All but three of the dead were police officers.
"There was a huge bang," said Munrian Bibi, 60, a school cleaner caught in the blast as she headed home from work. "I saw people falling on ground crying for help. I don't know what saved my life from that hell," she said in a hospital where she was treated for leg wounds.
There was no claim of responsibility. The government has blamed previous attacks on Islamic radicals allied with al Qaeda and the Taliban sheltering in the tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Musharraf blamed the same militants for the Dec. 27 gun and suicide bomb attack that killed Bhutto, a secular former prime minister who had repeatedly pledged to battle Islamic extremism in this country of 160 million people.
Bhutto's supporters have questioned whether elements within the government may have had a role in the opposition leader's slaying after a campaign rally, and are demanding an independent U.N. investigation. To allay critics, Musharraf last week invited British police to help investigate the attack.
? MVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Musharraf government has been unable to check the growth of terrorism and extremism in Pakistan.Musharraf government seems to be helpless as one district after another falls to the Taliban.Some solution has to be found otherwise it could create problems not only for the world but Pakistan as well.
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Posted by kashankhan at 05:16 AM : Jan 13, 2008
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Posted by tbweb at 11:06 PM : Jan 12, 2008
dude, do you even know Pakistans population and that only 0.2% of its 175 million people live in the tribal areas? shove your redneck bravado up your texan ***.
Was Pakistan also responsible for the Vietnam debacle?
...
so to all the red necks here, if you think Pakistan is Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan - bring it on
Posted by mabangash at 09:47 AM : Jan 12, 2008,,,
Its hard to impress anyone with this when more and more of Pakistan is increasingly controlled by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, when the Taliban and al-Qaeda openly rule in the tribal lands, when terror training camps are up and running, secure from harassment by Pakistani security forces! The United States smashed al-Qaeda''s base of operations in Afghanistan in 2001, only to see it transferred to northwestern Pakistan! The refusal of the Musharraf regime to deal with this situation, and the active participation of elements of the Pakistani military, intelligence, and political elites in supporting our enemies makes its hard to understand calling Pakistan an ally in the War on terror when Pakistan itself is the primary base for that terror! Pakistan has refused U.S. and U.N. military help and its continued existence without outside help as a sovereign State is seriously in doubt.
looks to me you muhammad-huggers want an end to life on earth to bring your teddy bear back...
actually all muhammad-huggers including OBl are also jesus-huggers - twos sides of the same coin
+ report abuse
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except for the one who thinks that get a bunch of virgins in heaven if they do...SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR ALL PRO MUSLIM ANTI-AMERICAN LIBERALS OUT THERE
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