ISLAMABAD, 3 February 2007 — Pakistan will fence parts of its border with Afghanistan to stem cross-border movements of militants, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said yesterday, while acknowledging that some outgunned Pakistani frontier guards may have allowed militants to cross.

However, he categorically denied that the Pakistan Army or intelligence service was supporting Taleban militants.

“There is no question of anyone abetting, but there are people at the tactical level who turn a blind eye ... and that needs to be corrected,” Musharraf told reporters at his army office in Rawalpindi.

A first phase would see fence erected along seven or eight locations — a total of 35 kilometers along Pakistan’s northwest frontier — and would take “a few months,” Musharraf said. “The decision has been taken and movement of logistics must be taking place at the moment.” He said mines would not be used in the initial phase because of concerns raised by the international community. However, he said plans for a second phase still foresaw using both fencing and mines to secure 250 kilometers of the frontier further south, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

“No one has the right to criticize unless they come up with an alternative solution ... if there is no (other) solution, we will do it our way,” Musharraf said.

He said those Western nations that criticize Pakistan must also realize our problems in dealing with the terrorists. He said Pakistan rendered the most sacrifices and suffered the largest number of casualties. “This blame game must come to an end,” he said.

He said the Taleban and Al-Qaeda operatives were well trained and professionals and they possessed latest light weapons. “They attack our soldiers and we retaliate. At times we have to carry out pre-emptive strikes against their training camps or hide-outs.”

Referring to the reported presence of Mullah Omar in Quetta, Musharraf said, “I am 500 percent sure that Mullah Omar is in Afghanistan and is leading the insurgency inside Afghanistan.”

Musharraf also repeated Pakistani complaints that it is being used as a scapegoat for the resurgence of Taleban-led militants. Afghan authorities and US and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan shared responsibility for the border, he said. “A misperception is being created that the resurgence of Taleban is from Pakistan. This is absolutely wrong. The resurgence of the Taleban is in Afghanistan, but some support goes from Pakistan,” he said.

“I assure you and the world that the government of Pakistan is not supportive of the Taleban or the process of Talebanization. In fact, we are framing policies that will curtail their breeding. We face difficulties and so does President Hamid Karzai. We realize his difficulties and we expect him to realize our problems too.”

Pakistan had helped foreign forces “eliminate” Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani — a top lieutenant of Taleban leader Mullah Omar — in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, just across the border from Pakistan, Musharraf said.

“You could not have done this unless ISI cooperated,” Musharraf said, referring to Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, which is accused by Afghanistan of backing the militia.

Musharraf also revealed that a top Taleban military commander, Mullah Dadullah, had been inside Pakistan three times but evaded capture. “Thrice we tried to get him, and thrice we failed,” he said, adding that the attempts were the fruits of intelligence cooperation with Pakistan’s anti-terror allies. “It was a combined failure,” he said.

“We had some incidents and I know that in some posts a blind eye was turned, so similarly I would imagine that others may be doing the same thing,” he said, adding that he had personally chaired a meeting that examined such reports.

Indo-Pak Relations

President Musharraf said Pakistan and India should stay steadfast against hard-liners and militants opposed to a peace process between the two old rivals.

He said relations with India had never been better and he was “reasonably optimistic” about their three-year-old peace process but there was a danger of setbacks. “I think there is good optimism toward a resolution but we have to tread the ground carefully so that we don’t slide back,” he said.

“We cannot take the people who are on confrontationist course, who think that it is only military, it is only militancy, which will solve the problem,” he said.

“They can’t be on board. So they will remain opposed to whatever we do and they will create all obstacles. We have to be steadfast against what they all do.”