President Musharraf has warned US coalition forces that any unilateral action taken against militants along the Pak-Afghan border will be regarded as an invasion.
Speaking to foreign media, President Musharraf said Islamabad would resist any attempt of the coalition forces to hunt down militants in Pak-controlled regions. Musharraf called U-S Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton's proposal to deploy U-S teams in Pakistan to safeguard its nuclear assets an intrusion of privacy.
The president's remarks were in response to reports that the US government was considering increasing the authority of the C-I-A and the military to conduct covert operations in Pakistan. President Musharraf also added that he would resign if the next elected government sought his impeachment.
The News International in its comment stated that US Senator Joe Lieberman has said nothing that is new to Pakistanis when it comes to his reminder, at a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, of the need to ensure fair and free polls in the country to avoid further internal divisions. But his remarks, after his meetings with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro, civil society representatives and the leaders of a range of political parties, are a reminder that the situation in Pakistan is now familiar to the world and is indeed being anxiously followed by people everywhere who are interested in the future of the country. Lieberman, known as one of the best-informed among US representatives on international issues, also made several other pertinent comments. He spoke, for instance, of the prevailing sense of suspicion and mistrust, and warned that these sentiments did not provide a positive environment in which to hold polls. The US representative's hope that these apprehensions will prove unfounded and that polls will go ahead on schedule, are of course shared by millions in the country.
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