ISLAMABAD, 11 August 2004 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday his country’s main objective is to eliminate Al-Qaeda, adding that most of the militants involved in attempts to kill him and other figures have been captured.

The key to success is killing the terror group’s masterminds, he said amid a high-profile crackdown on Osama Bin Laden’s network that has resulted in the foiling of fresh plots against the United States and Britain.

“We have achieved an unprecedented 90 percent success to unearth elements involved in terrorist attacks against myself, Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz, and in other high-profile cases,” he told the News daily.

Musharraf survived two assassination attempts on his motorcade last December, which he said were masterminded by Al-Qaeda, and Aziz escaped a suicide bomb attack July 30.

Musharraf said Al-Qaeda militants operated in a “three-tier system” made up of mastermind, planner and executor.

“We have to kill the mastermind, arrest the planner,” he was quoted as saying. “We have to eliminate Al-Qaeda which is the ultimate objective.”

Since mid-July some 20 Al-Qaeda suspects have been rounded up in Pakistan, triggering arrests of suspected operatives in Britain including alleged top plotter Abu Eisa Al-Hindi. More than 500 Al-Qaeda suspects have already been capture by Pakistan in the 35-month war on terror.

“Our intelligence agencies and similar departments have done a tremendous job and even the Western press has started showering praise on our actions,” Musharraf said.

However, he lamented that Pakistan, the world’s second largest Muslim country struggling with high poverty and illiteracy rates, had become a popular hide-out for terrorists.

“It is unfortunate that Pakistan is made a hub of such activities and people from various countries are living here to carry out their designs,” he said.

“It has made Pakistanis suffer the world over, especially at airports,” Musharraf said, referring to tough visa restrictions imposed on Pakistanis since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The government was trying to root out foreign and local militants with a two-pronged approach of negotiations and force. “It is a carrot-and-stick policy. We are holding talks through political agents and tribal elders,” Musharraf said.

Imran’s Mistake

The president said cricket-hero-turned-politician Imran Khan had missed out on becoming prime minister because he turned against the ruling party. “Imran knows nothing, despite the fact that I went to his hospital and helped him a lot,” he said, referring to the cancer hospital Imran set up and runs as a charity.

Imran, 50, initially backed Musharraf after he led a bloodless coup against the elected government of Nawaz Sharif in October 1999, saying he believed the army chief could stamp out corruption — one of Imran’s top policy platforms.

But in the past two years he has turned against Musharraf, accusing him and the army of backing corrupt tycoons to stand as civilian proxies in a breakaway faction of Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Imran formed the Tehrik-e-Insaf political party seven years ago. He campaigns fiercely against US foreign policy, criticizing particularly its war on terrorism methods and the mass arrests of Al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistani tribal areas and cities.

Musharraf said he had overlooked the ex-cricketer for the post of prime minister because of his change of heart. “Imran Khan lost his credibility by parting ways with the coalition” of pro-army parties who hold a majority in the 21-month-old Parliament.

Troops to Iraq

Musharraf ruled out sending Pakistani troops to Iraq for now. “Our forces will never go to Iraq under the present environment,” the president said.

“We, however, are not shutting our doors, as the situation might change,” he added.

The issue of sending troops to Iraq is an explosive one in the world’s second largest Muslim nation. The issue has become more sensitive since the execution of two Pakistani migrant workers in Iraq last month, which critics say could have been avoided if the government had made a public undertaking not to send troops.

Musharraf reiterated three conditions Pakistan has made before sending its soldiers. He said it required an invitation from the Iraqi government, a commitment of troops from other Muslim nations and domestic support. “Policy is never constant, only national interest remains constant. Policy will change with the change in environment.” Musharraf said he had made Pakistan’s position known to US President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

He said Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi had phoned him twice requesting troops for Iraq. “I told him the same, though he is my friend and we have good rapport.”

Bush vs. Kerry

Musharraf said an election win for either President Bush or Democrat challenger John Kerry would be good for Pakistan, adding that the two candidates have an equal chance of victory.

He said Pakistan’s close ties with the United States would not be affected by the November US elections. “Our geo-strategic location is very important and no one can overlook us,” Musharraf told the paper. “Other countries have to maintain relations and friendly ties with us for many, many reasons.”

He added: “I give 50-50 chance to both President Bush and Mr. Kerry.”

Both Pakistan’s western and eastern frontiers are potential flashpoints for conflict and have been used for bases by insurgents.

Al-Qaeda has run training camps and set up sanctuaries in the northwest tribal zone hugging Afghanistan, while rebels fighting Indian rule in Kashmir melt back and forth over the de-facto northeast border.

Bush has repeatedly lauded Musharraf as an “extremely tight” ally, shrugging off criticism that Washington has overlooked Pakistan’s failure to prosecute self-confessed nuclear proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan and complaints from democracy activists about Musharraf’s unelected power.