Gen skips meet, Opp says talks a failure

The entire Opposition in Pakistan has dubbed the Musharraf-Bush talks at Camp David as a ‘‘complete failure’’ and the pa...

The entire Opposition in Pakistan has dubbed the Musharraf-Bush talks at Camp David as a ‘‘complete failure’’ and the package which the Pakistani President extracted as ‘‘dismal and disappointing’’. Following the talks with President Bush, Musharraf was scheduled to address the media at the National Press Club in Washington. However, the Pakistan President cancelled his much hyped luncheon speech at the last minute.

Although Pakistan’s embassy in Washington cited problems with scheduling, the sources in the South East Asian community in Washington pointed out that Musharraf may have been nervous about facing a large news media audience after his statement about possible improvement in Pakistan’s relationship with Israel as well as queries about Kashmir and others about domestic problems.

A section of the Opposition was of the opinion that Musharraf’s continuous bid of winning a friend in the US by extending a helping hand in the fight against international terrorism had failed to bear any fruit. They said the $3 billion package offered by the US was far ‘‘too short’’ than what they had expected, the Online News reported on Wednesday. The Pakistan Peoples Party said the economic package was far too short of what could have been achieved given the losses incurred in economic, political and social sectors by Pakistan because of its support to the international community in the fight against terrorism.

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A party spokesman said that the nation was expecting that Musharraf would at least improve upon the economic packages the country received in the past. ‘‘We expected Musharraf to have doubled the aid package which we got in the past, keeping in view the inflation and the heavy price the nation was forced to pay for supporting the international fight against terror.’’

Terming Musharraf’s visit as a ‘‘complete failure’’, Pakistan Muslim League acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said refusal by Bush administration of selling F-16 and writing of Rs 1.8 b debt ‘‘had disappointed the nation’’. The Muttahida Majalis-e-Amal (MMA) also criticised Musharraf’s performance at Camp David. MMA secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that an individual could not be allowed to decide the fate of the country.

MMA senior leader Maulana Samiul Haq said the decisions arrived at Camp David would have ominous repercussions ‘‘as they have always gone against the Muslims’’. He further said: ‘‘This led to expose the leaders like Egyptian former president Anwar Sadat and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. We wish President Musharraf does not become the third one in the line of victims.’’

He said the general’s objection to the passage of the Shariat Bill by the NWFP government, were a part of it’s campaign to please the West.