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Musharraf threatened to quit before
January 12: Report

Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami has claimed that President Pervez Musharraf had threatened to quit three days ahead of his January 12 address in the face of vehement opposition by military commanders to his stand on terrorism, Indo-Pak relations and the Kashmir issue.

"There was a crisis like situation at the general headquarters, as Musharraf was faced with resistance from corps commanders on the steps he was about to announce in the speech because of their reservations with regard to the Kashmir issue and India," the special issue of Jamaat mouthpiece, Jasarat, said.

"These differences reached such an extent that Musharraf even threatened to resign," the article said.

It said, "The corps commanders accepted Musharraf's decision after his threat of resignation", and added that the speech, in which he promised action against terrorist outfits, "was recorded and edited" by the commanders and then telecast".

Admitting that all militant outfits, barring the Tehrik-e- Nifas-e-Shariat Mohammadi, had links with Pakistan's intelligence agencies, the article said that the top brass of the armed forces feared that the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence would be exposed if Musharraf acted against these outfits.

The article said outfits like the Sipah-e-Sahaba, Sipah-e- Muhammadi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqa Jafferia, Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed were the "brainchild of the ISI".

"These militant outfits were formed in the name of so-called national interests and to weaken the religious parties and tarnish their image as well," it said.

"The intelligence agencies supplied arms, resources and power to the banned parties and used them against each other. The government provided Kalashnikovs, big headquarters, Pajeros and unlimited funds to them," the magazine said.

It said Musharraf, "after fanning sectarianism and extremism, attacking Imam dargahs and masjids and perpetrating bloodshed by these outfits, held religious parties fully responsible for these acts".

Despite the presence of "strong and large indigenous militant outfits in Kashmir, not only Pakistani groups were raised, but their operations were also presented in an exaggerated manner.... damaging the Kashmir jihad".

The journal said the Musharraf regime "wanted to put a shroud on its sins" and alleged that the "interior ministry records of these organisations and arms licences issued to them, were gutted in a fire at the Shahid-e-Millat Secretariat in Islamabad".

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