Extremists can't get hold of A-bomb: CE
Says Harkat-ul-Mujahideen not terrorist; no proof of Osama's involvement in terrorism as yet
News desk - The News Inter./Jang - 6/26

NEW YORK: Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf has ruled out the possibility of Pakistan's atomic bomb falling into the hands of extremists.

He was talking to the New York Times magazine. He said he did not find any legal proof of Osma bin Laden's involvement in terrorism. He said if he was involved in bomb blasts and incidents of hijacking, then he was a terrorist. He said: "We have asked the US for proofs in this connection."

He said Taliban also wanted proofs of the US allegations against Osama. General Musharraf said he believed "sovereignty lies with God and we are His representatives on the earth." He said he is not fundamentalist.

He said most of the religious schools were serving humanity. He said these schools provided free lodging and boarding to poor students. He said Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was engaged in a holy war and it was not a terrorist organisation. The US had declared this organisation as terrorist.

According to the New York Times reporter General Musharraf is not considered a fundamentalist and his ideas are progressive. But some times his ideas raise doubts of his being a fundametalist, writes the reporter. General Musharraf said Jihad and terrorism are two different things. He said the Westerners were allergic to the term of Jihad. But, he said, Jihad was a moderate concept.