International   

Musharraf blasts Karzai

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Leak of intelligence to media infuriates Pakistan President

ISLAMABAD: Two days after U.S. President George W. Bush said he expected Pakistan to do "lot more" in taking on the Al-Qaeda, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf launched a scathing attack on his Afghanistan counterpart Hamid Karzai and said if Mr. Karzai is serious in tackling terrorism, he should take a hard look at his defence and intelligence apparatus.

In an interaction with senior Pakistani journalists, Gen. Musharraf on Monday said he has invited John Abizaid, in-charge of U.S. Central Command, to Pakistan for a frank exchange of views on the developments centred on the cooperation in the war against terrorism in general and the state of affairs in Afghanistan in particular.

U.S. protege

Political and diplomatic observers here are surprised at the no-holds-barred attack by Gen. Musharraf directed at Mr. Karzai since the latter is essentially is seen as a protégé of Washington.

The decision of the Karzai Government to leak a list of wanted persons allegedly sheltered in Pakistan handed over by Afghan President to Islamabad days before the visit of Mr. Bush appears to have triggered the latest row. It is the list and the glitches in the cooperation in the fight against terrorism which dominated the agenda of Mr. Bush's meeting with Gen. Musharraf on Saturday.

In an interview with the CNN on Sunday night, Gen. Musharraf accused Afghanistan of stirring trouble in Pakistan and said Mr. Karzai "does not appreciate what Pakistan has done for him".

In an interview to a news agency on February 18, Mr. Karzai urged neighbouring nations to stop meddling in Afghan affairs. Gen. Musharraf said he also gave Mr. Karzai an intelligence report, detailing how Afghan agencies were trying to stir trouble in Pakistan.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Musharraf blasts Karzai
Iran talks delicately poised
U.K. Minister cleared of wrongdoing
Evolution in human DNA detected
LTTE gloomy over Geneva talks outcome
A warning map on species extinction
For a robot, almost on its own
Strategic programme not recognised, says Burns

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu