World powers trying to divide Pakistan, says NWFP Governor

Lahore, June 29 (ANI): NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has said that there is a "great game" being played in the region, and some world powers were trying to divide Pakistan.

He told a private TV channel that Pakistan would emerge stronger than ever from the crises currently plaguing it, and added that if he were not a governor, he would have exposed them.

Concerning his statement that NATO forces and Afghan militants were attempting to weaken Pakistan, he claimed there was a difference between their (NATO) stated objectives and their actions, which were undermining Pakistan.

The NWFP Governor said he had told several US officials, including General Petraeus, Richard Boucher and Richard Holbrooke, that they would have to talk to Afghan leaders such as Mullah Omer if they wanted to resolve the Afghan issue.

He said thinking they could find a purely military solution to the political problems in Afghanistan was "foolish", and suggested a lack of understanding of the issue on the part of the US.

Ghani said the US should review its policy on Afghanistan, adding the groups in Afghanistan would have to be involved in finding a solution to the Afghan problem.

The NWFP Governor said it was an undisputed fact that every bullet, every gram of heroin, and every rocket in Pakistan came from Afghanistan. He said the 15,000 or so armed Taliban fighting in Pakistan were being funded by foreign powers, including the drug mafia from Afghanistan.

He also criticised the Americans for allowing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, saying this had turned Afghanistan into a narcotic-state, the Daily Times reported.

Ghani alleged that the drug warlords in Afghanistan were the political partners of the US and NATO. He said the Pakistan government had reduced the poppy cultivation in FATA to a minimum.

However, Ghani admitted around 40 percent of narcotics from Afghanistan were being smuggled to the rest of the world through Pakistan. (ANI)