Musharraf admits existence of al Qaeda in Pak

Washington, Jan 24: After long denying that terrorist camps in Pakistan exists, the former President Gen Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan does have areas which provide safe havens to militants.

According to the News, Musharraf said that the al Qaeda is operating from remote areas in Pakistan, and due to the difficult geographical conditions in the region it is very difficult for the security forces to dismantle the camps.

"There are sanctuaries" in Pakistan for al Qaeda, which combined with the remote, mountainous terrain "makes the task difficult" of finding the militants," Musharraf said.

Musharraf also rejected the notion that Pakistan is the originating point of terrorism, but accepted that there are agencies in the country which are offering help to the militant activities. "Terrorism emanated from Afghanistan because of the Mujahideen. Militants, Taliban are all products of Afghanistan. It is only support that they get from Pakistan," he said.

Talking to reporters here, he said that the United States is neglecting Pakistan in terms of aid and financial help, despite it playing the lead role in the fight against terror in the region.

He regretted that the help which Pakistan is getting from the US is far less than what Afghanistan or Iraq have received.

"If you compare what you spent in Afghanistan, I believe I read an article where roughly 143 billion dollars have been spent in Afghanistan. What have you spent in Iraq? Maybe over a trillion dollars?" Musharraf, who is on tour to the United states, said.

He also charged the US for treating it unequally saying: "This is what hurts Pakistan. It hurts the people of Pakistan that it is being treated so unequally while we are the ones who are in the lead role fighting the global war on terror."

ANI