'Nawaz kept in dark about Kargil operation'

Lahore, Jun 3: Former Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen (Retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kyani has said that former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif and the country's intelligence agency ISI were kept in the dark about the Kargil operation in 1999. In an interview to GEO news, a private TV channel in Pakistan, Lt Gen Kiyani has said the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not carried on board, contrary to what Musharraf says.

Nawaz Sharif has always maintained he was kept in the dark. General Kiyani said that though he did brief Nawaz Sharif a few times on Kargil, it was "fairly late" and the conflict had started by then. "It was not a comprehensive briefing that the chief executive should have been given," said Lt Gen Kiyani.

Squarely blaming Musharraf and his team, including Lt Gen Mehmood, Lt Gen Muhammad Aziz and Maj Gen Javed Hassan, for the Kargil debacle, Kiyani said that besides Sharif, the majority of corps commanders were also kept in the dark about Kargil and that only Musharraf was given a proper briefing.

It was the Kargil issue that caused differences between Sharif and Musharraf, he added. He also said that Nawaz went for the US' support when he realised that the Pakistan Army was facing defeat in Kargil.

ANI