Pak treated unequally in the war on terror:Mush

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has said that despite taking the lead role in fighting the war on terror, his country is being 'treated unequally', hurting the country's leadership and people.

"Pakistan is being treated so unequally while we are the ones who are in the lead role fighting the global war on terror," Musharraf said.

"This is what hurts Pakistan. It hurts the leadership. Indeed, it hurts the government. It hurts the people of Pakistan," he told CNN in an interview.

Musharraf is currently on tour to the US. He was very critical of the US missile strikes inside Pakistan, the latest of which was fired on Friday, which killed seven people.

Observing that public opinion in Pakistan is against such methodology being adopted by the US, Musharraf said, "We have to find a solution."

Earlier this week, the new Barack Obama administration had put Pakistan on notice, and said that Islamabad would be held accountable for the security in the border regions of Afghanistan and its performance in the war on terror would be linked to the US non-military financial aid.

"(President Barack) Obama and (Vice President Joe) Biden will increase non-military aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan," White House had said in its foreign policy agenda document released soon after Obama had occupied the Oval office.

"So the environment and national interest of the US being the same, I thought policies will remain constant. But however, we have to find a way out towards dealing with Al
Qaida and Taliban," Musharraf said.

When asked about the $10 billion US aid to Pakistan, Musharraf said that this is a 'pittance' given Pakistan's contribution in the war against terrorism.

"Please don't think that this $10 billion was such a great amount that we ought to be eternally grateful while we know that we deserve much more and we should have got much more and we must get much more if we are to fight the global war on terror," he said.

Musharraf emphasised that for 42 years, up until 1989, Pakistan had been a 'strategic partner' of the US.

But many Pakistanis felt abandoned by the US after the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan. Musharraf said the 1989 'peace dividend' went to East Europe.

Pakistan was 'left alone' from 1989 to 2001, and during that period, the militant Taliban movement took control of Afghanistan, he said to CNN.

Asked why al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is thought to be somewhere in the border region, hasn't been found, he replied, "I would like to ask the United States why he hasn't been found. They have their intelligence. You have more intelligence capability. I would like to ask the United States, why Mullah Omar has not been found, who is the leader of all of the Taliban in Afghanistan?"

Musharraf, however, admitted that there were 'sanctuaries' in Pakistan for Al Qaeda, which combined with the mountainous terrain makes the task of flushing out the militants difficult.