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Barely a few days before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's arrival in Washington to hold talks with the Bush administration, former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto has warned the US against placing all their faith in his words in view of his 'past record'.
"For the moment, some might find Musharraf's dictatorship useful, but the US must proceed with great caution and wisdom," Bhutto said in an article in the Christian Science Monitor.
"The Pakistani general, who seized power in a coup in 1999, was a principal architect of policies that empowered (Saudi extremist) Osama bin Laden and strengthened the Taliban regime harbouring Al Qaeda," Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said.
Musharraf, she added, also failed to close the militant Islamic schools in Pakistan that 'filled youngsters with hatred toward the West and were the prime recruiting grounds for Laden's war on civilisation'.
Holding Musharraf responsible for bringing South Asia to the brink of war, the former prime minister said twice during his tenure as army chief, a position which Musharraf still holds, 'two confrontations have taken place with India that have brought South Asia to the brink of a nuclear armageddon'.
She said that though the Pakistani president now claims containment of terrorists and militants, 'for years he turned a blind eye to Islamic groups - Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed - which many believe were involved in the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament'.
Bhutto criticised Musharraf for denouncing the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which, she said, was used by the president and his predecessors to destabilise democratic governments in Pakistan and manipulate the electoral process in the country.
She said that Muharraf's administration stood by the Taliban as Pakistani supporters of the former Afghan militia printed posters, hired trucks, established camps and exhorted young Pakistanis to 'join the jihad' (holy war) led by the Al Qaeda.
"Thousands of young Pakistanis crossed over into Afghanistan. Their dead bodies are a monument to the pre-September 11 policies of Pakistan's dictatorship," she said.
Alleging that 'Musharraf plans to continue his military dictatorship through a manufactured political party', Bhutto said that an 'internationally monitored, free and fair, party-based election open to all parties can create the legitimacy that could derail the fundamentalists' dream of a theocratic state."
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