Benazir 'became a victim of US agenda': Gen Aslam Beg

Lahore, Jan 28 : Former Pakistan Army Chief General (retired) Mirza Aslam Beg has said that Benazir Bhutto "became a victim of US agenda" after she refused to cut a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf.

"Having realised the ground realities after her arrival in Pakistan, she retreated from commitments she had made with the US on Pakistan's nuclear assets, Dr AQ Khan and the Taliban and became a victim of the agenda of the US," the Dawn News quoted Aslam Beg, as saying.

He said Benazir would not have become Prime Minister after the 1988 elections had she been unpopular with the army.

Aslam Beg said he had assured Benazir of the army's support in a three-hour meeting.

He said former NWFP governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai had been removed because he did not agree with the policy of the use of force against extremists and wanted a "political solution" to the problem.

"Militant resistance in Afghanistan and Iraq was not terrorism, but a "struggle for freedom," the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

ANI