Pakistani President Mussharaf Calls on India for Peace Talks

Fox News Live ^ | 27 May 02 | General Musharraf

[Alas Babylon!]

He's on live right now on Fox News.

[Alas Babylon!]

It's a major address to his country, but he's asked the Indian Government to meet for peace talks.

[Lazamataz]

I'm watching it. He seems sincere. He is acting to defuse this situation, and that is good.

[Alas Babylon!]

Now he's speaking in English (for Indian consumption?). He sounds pretty discouraging about peace, at least in English.

[AM2000]

FNC is actually carrying his address to the nation Live??

[Mo1]

I'm watching it

I am watching it also .. just turned on the TV .. What is up???

[Alas Babylon!]

Bridgette Quinn on now, says Musharraf is defiant, blames India for rise in tension.

[Alas Babylon!]

Musharraf, in his speech, aknowledges terrorist attacks against India, but he also states there's terrorist attacks against Pakistan. Say Pakistan is not allowing terrorists to cross border in Kashmir, as India is stating.

Don't know if this speech will defuse the sitiaution, but I hope it helps. There's no good for either country to get into a full-blown war, especially with nukes.

[Dog Gone]

Dang, I just caught part of it, and then Fox went to some lame analysis.

[colgin]

Mussharaf also said that the Paks can't be held responsible for acts in occupied Kashmire brought about by atrocities of the Indians.

[Alas Babylon!]

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By Simon Denyer and Myra MacDonald

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was facing mounting international pressure on Monday to do more to curb the militants who have brought his country to the verge of war with India.

But Pakistan's military ruler, who is due to speak on state television at 8:30 p.m. about the crisis with India, will also have to balance growing domestic pressure not to give in to Indian demands.

At the start of a week of intense international diplomacy aimed at averting war between the nuclear-armed countries, the dangerous game of brinkmanship between them continued.

India's Finance Minister Yashwant Singh said his country's economy was better prepared for war than Pakistan's, but war was the last option.

Pakistan flexed its military might over the weekend, testing first a medium-range and then a short-range missile which it says are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but refrained from any further tests Monday.

The neighboring states, divided when British colonial rule ended in 1947, have massed a million men along their border since a December attack on India's parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri militants.

Tension soared again after an attack by Islamic militants on an Indian army base in Kashmir on May 14, prompting Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to tell his front-line troops to prepare for a "decisive fight."

On the eve of a visit by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to the region, Prime Minister Tony Blair phoned Musharraf for 15 minutes Monday, urging him to reduce tension and telling him that infiltration by Islamic militants across the Line of Control dividing disputed Kashmir "had to stop," Blair's spokesman said.

The United States, which has become Musharraf's most important ally since he threw his weight behind the U.S. war on terror, took a similar line.

"Stopping people from crossing the Line of Control, stopping terrorism, that's what's more important than the missile testing," President Bush told reporters Sunday.

Few analysts expect Musharraf to make any public concessions in Monday's speech, expecting him rather to repeat his desire for talks and his opposition to terrorism, but also his determination to defend Pakistan in the event of an attack.

Indian analysts said the missile tests might help by allowing Musharraf to look tough at home -- appeasing hard-liners who want no concessions made to India -- as he seeks to deliver on a January 12 pledge to crack down on the militants.

"What he promised in January, he is now being forced to do. I think he has to show that he is not delivering under pressure," Indian defense analyst C. Rajamohan said.

But Pakistani analysts were not so sure whether Musharraf could go much further in cracking down on militants without risking a backlash at home.

He has already angered militants by supporting the United States in its war on terror and in its campaign against the al Qaeda network in neighboring Afghanistan.

PATIENCE WEARS THIN

Khalid Mehmood, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, said the missile tests were a way for Pakistan to tell the world it was running out of patience, and that it would not be coerced into submission by India.

"I don't think (Musharraf) is going to make any dramatic announcement," he said. "I think there are no concrete steps which he can take to change the situation."

Former Pakistani foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan also played down chances of a really significant change in stance.

"I would expect him to repeat what he has been saying so far. That he would respond positively to any initiative. Pakistan would defend itself if war is imposed," he said.

India said Sunday it was running out of patience over the attacks by extremists who it says are supported by Pakistan.

But Vajpayee said India would wait to see if international efforts to persuade Pakistan to crack down on militants worked.

Analysts see a small window of opportunity, perhaps up to two months, to prevent war.

The neighbors have fought three wars -- two over disputed Kashmir -- since independence in 1947.

"War is not going to serve anyone," U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told 'Fox News Sunday'.

"There are very intensive and coordinated efforts right now between the United States, Great Britain, the European Union and, indeed, the Russians to try and calm this crisis," she said, speaking from Russia.

Britain's Straw is due in Islamabad Tuesday before heading to New Delhi and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage travels to the region early next week.

The renewed tension has brought fresh violence along the Line of Control in Kashmir and several people, including civilians, have died in daily heavy exchanges of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire between the two forces.

Pakistan and Indian officials said there were exchanges along the Line of Control and the international border overnight.

Six Pakistanis were killed and at least 16 wounded by Indian mortar fire over the border in Punjab province, Pakistani residents and officials said.

In villages along the Indian-Pakistan border, which runs from the Himalayan mountains of Kashmir, south through scorching desert to the Arabian Sea, people were fleeing their homes, taking livestock and valuables with them.

Civil defense units were conducting exercises, including blackouts, and Indian officials said Monday preparations were being made to evacuate thousands more people if war broke out.

Some Western embassies have also told their nationals to avoid traveling to India and Pakistan and advised those in the region to consider leaving.

India says the three gunmen who raided an Indian army base in Kashmir on May 14, killing 31 people, were Pakistan-based militants. The gunmen were killed in the attack.

Although Pakistan has denied involvement and condemned the attacks on parliament and the raid on the army camp, India, and the international community, is pushing it to do more.

But Musharraf faces his own problems at home with militants.

At least 15 foreigners have been killed in Pakistan and dozens wounded in violent attacks since January, including U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, who was abducted and murdered.

[Mo1]

Mussharaf also said that the Paks can't be held responsible for acts in occupied Kashmire brought about by atrocities of the Indians

I heard that part also .. Sounds like he is trying to defuse the situation .. but that if India attacked the mother land .. they would respond

[AM2000]

Highlights of Musharraf's Speech. - Source - Dawn

• Bismillah.
• My dear Pakistani brothers and sisters. Salam. Pakistan is passing through a very sensitive situation. We stand at historic cross-roads. Today's decisions will have a long range impact.
• I believe in consultation. I have met with politicians, the journalists, and the leaders of Kashmir. I am grateful to all those who came and met me. But there were some politicians who chose not to meet me. This is sad since this is the time to be united for Pakistan.
• I invite those politicians again to come and meet me.
• I would also like to remove all doubts about the elections that some people have. I want to assure you that we will hold elections from 7th to 11th October this year. These will be free and fair and foreign observers will be invited to witness it.
• I would also like to talk about the recent referrendum. There was no coercion in this exercise. This was also why I did not deploy the army at the polling booths, so that there is no impression of anyone influencing the outcome.
• I was supported by all sectors of society... by labor, women, minorities, and those in the rural areas. But I got unofficial reports that there was some unnecessary enthusiasm shown and there were irregularities. I am sorry and sad if this happened.
• Now I want to address external matters.
• As you know the enemy is at our borders. Our forces are now facing them. Our people are behind our forces. We will not let an inch of Pakistan be damaged. The situation is grave.
• Let us look at how this happened. There was a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament building, which we condemned. But the Indian leadership used this to accuse us and brought their forces to our borders. Then as the situation was starting to get better there was an attack on May 14 in Occupied Kashmir where there was a loss of life of civilians. We condemned this attack also. These attacks are also meant to destabilize Pakistan.
• We ourselves are victims of terrorism. There was the recent attack on a church in Islamabad, and soon after the suicide attack in Karachi. We did not blame India for these.
• Then when recently there was the assassination of Abdul Ghani Lone Sahib. The killers have not been caught, but again the blame is being put on Pakistan and the ISI.
• All this results in the increase in the war hysteria that is being created.
• We on the other hand have shown accommodation and restraint. But this should not be viewed as weakness. We have prepared our defenses.
• I had said in my speech in January that Pakistani soil will not be used for terrorist activity. I will repeat this and assure people outside Pakistan that there is no infiltration across the Line of Control.
• We cannot be blamed for every incident that occurs in Occupied Kashmir.
• I would like to assure the international community that we are not allowing any infiltration across the LOC. We have taken very bold initiatives in this regard since 12th of January. But we have not seen any response from India. We would like to normalize relations with India. We would like to see withdrawal of troops from the border. And we would like to urge the world to take note of the atrocities being committed by Hindu extremists and terrorists against Muslims in Kashmir and Gujrat, and against Christians and Sikhs and members of Hindu scheduled castes.
• A message to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. We will always stand with you and you will always have our support.
• And finally... We want peace but if war is imposed on us we will fight. As muslims we will say Allah-o-Akbar and fight if we have to. Such is the situation now. We are ready, the whole nation is ready.
• You have always trusted me. With the help of Allah I will Inshallah come up to your expectations in this time of crisis. Pakistani Military Zindabad, the Pakistani nation Paindabad.

---

Source - Dawn

[swarthyguy]

He is a lying prevaricating sack of pig droppings. Still defiant and shifting blame. He lied about no infiltration over the LoC and at the same cheerleaded further attacks.

Anyody who believes him needs their head examined.

Nothing has changed; more attacks continue in Kashmir as we speak.

Nothing in his speech changes anything; he says he wants dialogue; you don't conduct negotiations when civilians are dying at the hands of the jihadis. The only reason for this speech is India's brinksmanship at the border.

Talk is cheap.

[BullDog108]

Someone here described him as a Yasser Arafat with a decent tailor. LOL! I concur.

[swarthyguy]

And he does know how to use a razor, unlike Arafat.

[swarthyguy]

One of the unspoken reasons for rise of Hindu fundamentalism in the past 20 years has been the rise of nutty islamic hate rhetoric emanating from the arab and pakistani fruitcakes.

[Bommer]

India may have problems with its own Hindu extremists but they do not take it elsewhere. It is Pakistani Islamic groups that are the problem no one else.

Exactly! The extremist you are refering to are those hell bent on defying and stopping Muslims. Although they have attacked Christians, they are far and away the lesser of 2 evils, and seeing how Hindu's are seen by Islam as nothing but 'Kafirs' (sub-humans; lower than pigs and monkeys) I can see why they are defiant. Here's to India! Light these @ssholes up and send the message to the rest of Islam! DESTROY ALL MONSTERS!

[swarthyguy]

And in the meantime, Iran tests new missiles. Pakistan conducts its own tests for 3 days running. While we sleep, the Islamic bomb and delivery systems are honed. If the pakistanis use their missiles on the subcontinent against India, what makes anyone think the next targets would not be Israel, then Europe. Iran's long range missiles threaten Israel now and will be used to coerce the Europeans into accepting islamic demands.

[milestogo]

Musharraf speech highlights - Jan 12 2002

No organisations will be able to carry out terrorism on the pretext of Kashmir.

Whoever is involved with such acts in the future will be dealt with strongly whether they come from inside or outside the country.

We have been taking measures against terrorism from the beginning, not because of any outside pressure.