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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Pervez Musharraf offers olive branch to archrival Nawaz Sharif

DUBAI: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that he wants to make amends with Pakistan Muslim League -N (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif , but pointed out that reconciliation was not a one-way street.


Musharraf took power on October 12, 1999 through a bloodless military coup d'etat on the democratically elected government of the then Prime Minister Nawaz, who was banished to Saudi Arabia for a decade along with younger brother Shahbaz Sharif and their family members.

This is apparently the first time that Musharraf has publicly expressed his willingness for a patch-up with Nawaz, while both have repeatedly launched diatribes against each other.

However, despite wishing to reconcile with the PML-N chief, Musharraf, who launched his own political party All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in October 2010, also averred that he would defeat Nawaz in the next general elections.

Speaking to a private TV channel, the former president, who is currently in self-exile from Pakistan, said that he would certainly return to Pakistan prior to the next elections, Online News reports.

Musharraf also said that the Americans knew very well that a lot of progress was achieved during his era, adding that Pakistan had supported the US in the war against Russia in its own interest.

He also said that Pakistan had supported the Taliban, but it did not know that the Taliban would become terrorists in future, adding that the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) want to defeat terrorists.

Musharraf also spoke of his October 12 and November 3 unconstitutional acts, and said that he was not ashamed of his actions. He clarified that the country was more important than pages of the Constitution.