Musharraf wants a comeback

2010-05-21 08:56

Washington - Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday he planned to return from exile and re-enter politics, and did not rule out a new bid for the presidency.

Musharraf, who has mostly lived in London since losing power following 2008 elections, visited Washington this week and met quietly with prominent Pakistanis at a ritzy hotel to discuss his future plans.

In an interview with CNN, Musharraf said he intended to return to politics, although he was coy when asked about the time-frame.

"I certainly am planning to go back to Pakistan and also join politics. The question already of whether I am running for president or prime minister will be seen later," he said.

Officials in Pakistan earlier said Musharraf had applied to register a new party with electoral authorities, setting the stage for a political comeback.

Criminal trial

But Musharraf could face a criminal trial if he returns to Pakistan for detaining judges in 2007 as he attempted to cling to power.

Musharraf is also wanted for questioning over allegations in an investigation led by the UN that he could have done more to prevent the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf disagreed with the UN report, saying, "I think all the security was provided" to Bhutto. "In fact, it was me who warned her about the threat to her," Musharraf said.

Musharraf said he had previously stopped Bhutto from going to the venue where she was later killed by Islamic extremist.

"A lot of political aspersions were cast on me that her movements are being restricted. But she decided to go again," Musharraf said.

Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, replaced Musharraf as president in 2008. Musharraf could face formidable odds in any return to politics to match the political machinery of Zardari and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Musharraf, who headed the powerful army, ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999, triggering further international isolation for a country that a year earlier had joined arch-rival India in testing nuclear weapons.

Lawless tribal areas

But Musharraf later recast himself as the great modernising hope for Pakistan. He switched sides after the September 11 2001 attacks by supporting the US campaign that ousted Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban regime, which had taken power with Pakistani support.

Musharraf, who was raised partially in secular Turkey, faced accusations among some Pakistanis that he was insufficiently pious. But his undoing came after he launched a battle against the judiciary as he tried to stay in power, triggering major street protests.

Musharraf said that he fully supported the military campaign ordered by Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the lawless north western tribal areas.

The operation has won wide praise in the US, where officials were long suspicious that elements of the Pakistani establishment during Musharraf's rule played a double-game of supporting extremists.

But Musharraf joined the government in criticising the US deployment of unmanned drones to kill wanted extremists in remote parts of Pakistan.

Musharraf mused that Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American accused of trying to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square, was angered by the drone campaign.

"I wonder whether this Faisal Shahzad incident... has he been affected by indiscriminate bombing by the drones?" Musharraf said.

Musharraf also backed the Pakistani government in banning Facebook over a furore about a page hosting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed.

Musharraf, whose own Facebook page has attracted more than 200 000 fans, said he was a "great supporter" of the site but called images of Muhammed an especially sensitive issue for Muslims.

- SAPA