Musharraf sees no possibility for radicals taking over country

14 Nov, 2005

President General Pervez Musharraf on Sunday said Pakistan is following a strategy to combat extremism and terrorism in its own interest and saw no possibility at all for radicals' taking over the country.
"There is no possibility at all for take-over by radicals here, no radical can take over Pakistan," he emphasised, while declaring that Pakistan has been winning battle against terrorism in the region.
The President told CNN in an interview that the vast majority of the country has asserted itself in the recently held local government elections while radicals have lost their support substantially in the NWFP and Balochistan provinces.
"I have no doubt in my mind that Pakistan is a moderate country, moderate forces have reasserted themselves and radicals have gone down," he stated.
The President observed in response to a question that extremists are targeting both the Western interests and the Muslim countries and also tarnishing the image of Islam.
"This is a small force, we are fighting against and we are all united to fight against them - there is no doubt that we are winning the battle against terrorists, especially in our region in Pakistan and Afghanistan - we are winning battle against extremists and terrorists and we will keep winning."
Commenting on Pakistan's recent contacts with Israel, he said the Pakistani intelligentsia has not opposed these. He said the thinking of radicals is different from the vast majority. "I am interested in Pakistan's interest and I know what Pakistan's interest is - I know the people of Pakistan are totally supportive of my policies and the strategic direction I am following."
The President stressed that American Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence are totally in sync with each other in fighting terror. "There is do difference of opinion in whatever we are doing - there are no doubts or suspicions."
On allowing US officials to interrogate former nuclear scientist Dr A Q Khan, Musharraf said Pakistan is fully capable of interrogating him and has also co-operated with the international community in terms of sharing information on the proliferation issue.

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