ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday said that it would not permit foreign forces to operate on its soil. During a routine weekly briefing, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said at no stage we will allow foreign forces to take any action from its soil, and if and when any military operation was needed Pakistan’s own security forces will decide and take action.
He confirmed that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will leave on a visit to the United States on July 28. During his stay there, the prime minister is due to meet US President George W. Bush, congressmen and members of the media.
Meanwhile, former prime minister and leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif considers President Pervez Musharraf an unconstitutional head of state and demanded his immediate removal from the post.
Talking to journalists here yesterday before leaving for London, Sharif said “we do not consider Musharraf legitimately elected president.
Before his election he sacked the chief justice, imposed state of emergency and created a judiciary of his liking.”
He said that he has held a couple of meetings with co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on the issue and would continue to support lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judges.”
“What Pakistan has to do with its president, who is an unconstitutional president, this is Pakistan’s internal affair, this is not Pakistan’s external affair. We do not need any external consultation in this,” Sharif told reporters in Islamabad.
Sharif was reacting to comments by visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who said Wednesday that the country had a raft of pressing problems on its plate. “Frankly, President Musharraf is not the issue right now,” Boucher told reporters who asked him about the future of the president, a close US ally.
He was critical of Boucher’s assertions that Musharraf be allowed to remain there as he was not running the functions of state.
“This is not the problem that Pakistan faces right now,” Boucher said. “There’s dangers of bombings and suicide bombers. There’s rising food prices. There’s energy difficulties.”
Boucher said he tried to get this message across Pakistan’s new ruling coalition. Boucher met with Sharif, Gilani and Musharraf during his three-day visit, which ended Wednesday.
Sharif said he had told Boucher that Pakistan’s internal affairs will be managed by the government, and should not be interfered with by other countries.
Boucher said Wednesday that its pressing problems were soaring food prices, electricity shortages and Islamic militancy. Musharraf toppled Sharif as prime minister in a 1999 coup. Sharif’s party is in Pakistan’s new coalition government and is demanding the US-backed president’s ouster.
Referring to the operation in Khyber, he said the coalition had decided to use a policy of dialogue in the tribal areas during a high-level meeting two and a half months ago, and that he did not know what had changed since then. Sharif said his party was not consulted on the decision to launch an operation in Khyber Agency. Pakistan’s new civilian government is packed with Musharraf opponents who won February elections. The vote marked an end to eight years of military dominance.
— With input from agencies
