Musharraf rubbishes Lal Masjid claim

ISLAMABAD: Former President Pervez Musharraf on Monday claimed that no child or woman was harmed in the controversial military operation conducted in Lal Masjid in 2007 when it was allegedly occupied by armed militants.

‘It is time to end the lies. Those who say women and children were killed and several hundreds died in the Lal Masjid operation are telling white lies. Only 94 people were killed and all of them were terrorists and extremists. Not a single woman or child was killed,’ the former president told reporters at the airport before leaving for Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Musharraf said he would meet King Abdullah during his stay in Saudi Arabia. He said he would also visit London and Prague for interviews and deliver lectures.

However, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chief of Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), a political party which was in power when Musharraf was holding the office of the president, rejected the claim of the former president and said there were some children and women present when the operation was carried out against the militants.

‘I do not know the exact number of children and women that were inside the mosque during the operation but it is a fact that the mother of Maulana Abdul Aziz (Imam of Lal Masjid) was among those killed in the battle,’ he said.

Shujaat said he had opposed the launching of operation in Lal Masjid, Islamabad, citing that Pervez Musharraf, in his recent statement at US, also admitted this fact.

There were women and children in Jamia Hafza, Lal Masjid, but in a very limited number, he said, asserting that killing of even one child or woman is a heinous crime.
Controversy still prevails about the killing of women and children and nobody exactly knows about it.

Even Maulana Abdul Aziz in his first public appearance in the mosque after his release on bail on Thursday said: ‘It is quite difficult to tell the exact number of total women and children killed in the mosque during the operation.’

In reply to a question about the possibility of registering a case against him, former president Musharraf said: ‘If any action is initiated against me, I will respond to it at that time.’

Maulana Abdul Aziz has already announced that he will not take any revenge with Pervez Musharraf as he wants to forget the past and look forward.

A private TV channel reported that Pervez Musharraf left for Saudi Arabia in a special plane provided by the King of Saudi Arabia, Shah Abdullah-bin-Abdul Aziz for his ‘Umrah’.

Before leaving on the trip, he warned that Pakistan ‘is in danger’, the former president said its leadership must take cognisance of concerns expressed by the world community about the security situation in the country but asserted that nobody should dictate any course of action to it.

‘The country is in danger and if we get bogged down in minor and old issues, there will be problems,’ he said.

‘The issue is very serious. Everyone in the world is seeing the seriousness of the issue in Pakistan. Everyone is trying to chart a course of action,’ he added.

At the same time, he said, Pakistan must chart its own course of action to steer the country out of the problems it is facing. ‘And we have to be clear that nobody should dictate any course of action to us. We have to find our own course of action and save this country and move it forward towards progress,’ he said.

Asked whether he thought the peace deal with the Taliban in the northwestern Swat valley would usher in peace and end suicide attacks, Musharraf replied: ‘Nothing can be said (as of now). If the agreement is only for ensuring speedy and cheap justice within the Pakistani legal structure and system, then it is alright.’

‘But if (the deal was inked) from a position of weakness, if the Taliban want to challenge the writ of the government, the deal is dangerous and should not be allowed,’ Musharraf said, adding that he believed the army and the administration are thinking about this issue and will take the correct steps.

Musharraf said no conditions should be attached to the financial aid provided to Pakistan. ‘We should not be happy about just getting money. There is interest on it, we are not getting it for free,’ he said, referring to the $5 billion in aid pledged to Pakistan at a donors’ conference in Tokyo on Friday.

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