Pervez Musharraf; 'I Have Yet To Decide'.(Interview)

Byline: Lally Weymouth

In spite of his close alliance with the Bush administration in the war against terror, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf last week made clear he has some policy disagreements with the White House. In a wide-ranging interview with NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth, Musharraf insisted that the United States and Britain are not welcome in Iraq, and must aim to withdraw their troops. He also argued vehemently that the Palestinian issue is the source of anti-American feeling in the Muslim world, and the root cause of terrorism. Excerpts:

WEYMOUTH: You have said you will not resign as Army chief at the end of this year. Why?

MUSHARRAF: I haven't said I won't take off the uniform; I have yet to decide. However, I would like to give you the reasons. We are following a certain foreign policy which needs continuity. We are fighting terrorism internationally and that needs continuity. Then, there is the issue of Indo-Pakistan relations. There is a rapprochement. Then, we are changing the entire psyche of our society, which has been held hostage to extremist ideas. The entire mind-set needs to be changed, which we are doing.

Were military officers involved in the assassination attempts against you and your prime minister?

There was involvement by some few lower-level people but there were no officers involved.

U.S. officials contend that terrorist groups are still raising money and recruiting in Pakistan under different names in spite of your ban.