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Sharief claims credit for averting war

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief today said he had averted a war with India by appealing to the mujahideen (Islamic guerrillas) to resolve the standoff in Kargil.

Sharief told a press conference that his conscience was clear over the move, which has been interpreted as an appeal for what Pakistani claims are mujahideen to withdraw from the Indian side of the Line of Control.

The decision to appeal to the 'militants' was taken at a meeting in Islamabad on Friday of the Pakistani Cabinet's Committee on Defence chaired by Sharief.

The meeting brought together the foreign, defence, interior and finance ministers as well as the armed forces chiefs.

But their decision is being seen by powerful Islamic groups as a climbdown.

Sharief, defending his appeal, said: "I have nothing but the security and interest of the country in mind."

"You should never expect me to compromise or betray the national interest in any way," he told reporters after his weekly game of cricket in Lahore.

"All I can say is that my conscience is clear and I have acted in the highest national interest to take prompt action to avert any looming threats of aggression against the country," The Nation quoted him as saying.

But powerful Islamic groups and the opposition parties are accusing Sharief of 'capitulation' for promising the withdrawal to United States President Bill Clinton.

They have planned protest rallies tomorrow when Sharief will be explaining in a broadcast to the nation the agreement he reached with Clinton.

Sharief met leaders of 15 Pakistan-based mujahideen groups on Friday to try and win their support for the withdrawal. But most rejected his call.

They are due to meet tomorrow to work out a common strategy in the light of the government's move.

Sharief responded to former prime minister and arch rival Benazir Bhutto's criticism of his handling of the situation by praying to God "to give her the right vision to understand the issues in their correct perspective".

He will make the broadcast at 2030 IST. "Please wait for my speech on Monday which will answer all questions," he told journalists in the face of growing calls to justify an apparent U-turn on the infiltration.

The broadcast will be his first public statement since he agreed in talks with Clinton last week to take "concrete steps" to head off a military showdown with India.

It follows public bafflement at how Pakistan has agreed to withdraw fighters it previously said were outside government control and who have angrily rejected his appeal to withdraw as a betrayal of their 10-year 'freedom struggle'.

UNI

The Kargil Crisis

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