Author:
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: September 8, 2006
URL: http://us.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/08imran.htm
Pakistan's cricketer-turned politician Imran
Khan has described Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's policy on the conflict-torn
tribal region bordering Afghanistan as a "disaster" and accused
him of being a "poodle" of the US.
"Waziristan has been a disaster. So,
there has been a disgraceful withdrawal of the Pakistani Army from the region.
The army has been defeated and they conceded to every demand of the tribals,"
Khan said in an interview to Times Now telecast on Friday.
Khan, who heads the Tehrik-e-Insaf party,
also condemned the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti
and said "it is the most idiotic thing anyone could have done to kill
the 80-year-old man who had become a symbol of resistance."
"This issue is not going to die down,"
he said. The former cricketer said that "all the wrong policies have
come at his (Musharraf) doorsteps."
"A general, who (former US President
Bill) Clinton would not even shake hands with when he came to Pakistan, ...
(has) become (President George W) Bush's blue-eyed boy in doing his dirty
work -- this fraudulent war on terror," Khan said. "He has become
suddenly acceptable but it has come at a heavy price for Pakistan because
when he pretends to be one who is keeping the extremists, fanatics and terrorists
from swamping the nation, he is doing the biggest disservice just to be Bush's
Poodle," he said.
Khan also lashed out at "poor standard
of governance" in Pakistan.
- PTI
