Angry general flies home to face critics
Luke Harding in Islamabad Wednesday November 14, 2001 The Guardian
Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, last night expressed his dismay that the Northern Alliance had been allowed to seize Kabul and said a UN peacekeeping force should be sent in as soon as possible to stop opposition troops from "occupying" the city.
Speaking in Turkey, Gen Musharraf said Kabul should be rapidly "demilitarised" to prevent the "atrocities of the past" from being repeated. The UN force should be made up of troops from Muslim countries.
"In the past there has been fighting among these ethnic groups. Pakistan and Turkey must do what they can to prevent this," he added.
Earlier, Pakistan's foreign affairs spokesman, Aziz Ahmad Khan, said no single group could bring peace to Afghanistan, and a broad-based multi-ethnic government should take over as soon as possible. "Pakistan holds to the view that the Northern Alliance forces must not occupy Kabul."
The Northern Alliance has made little secret of its hostility to Pakistan's military regime, which until two months ago was the Taliban's most crucial ally. Over the past five years Pakistan's powerful ISI intelligence agency has secretly given the Taliban vital military support and advice.
Gen Musharraf dumped the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In a visit to New York on Monday, he urged President Bush not to allow the Northern Alliance to seize Kabul, a strategy swept away by events. Privately, Pakistani diplomats admit that they feel betrayed by their new allies in Washington, who failed to halt the alliance's advance.
Gen Musharraf yesterday pointed to the alliance's barbarous record during its last stint in power in Kabul between 1992-94. He is deeply concerned that unless members of the Pashtun ethnic majority play a leading role in government Pakistan faces the prospect of a hostile neighbour. "Pashtun representation is important," he said in Istanbul last night, before flying back to Islamabad for talks with senior advisers.
"The capture of Kabul by the anti-Pakistan opposition alliance will have negative implications for the country," Samiul Haq, a leading Pakistani Islamist cleric and head of the pro-Taliban Afghan Defence Council, said last night.
Hameed Gul, former head of Pakistan's intelligence agency, yesterday accused America of deceiving Pakistan, which had "no control of the situation". Gen Musharraf "should do a lot of explaining", he added.