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Musharraf Warns of Anarchy in Afghanistan, Calls for Friendly Government
ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Monday warned of anarchy in Afghanistan if the anti-Taliban opposition forces are allowed to dominate a future government, news agencies reported.
"Certainly the Northern Alliance [opposition] must be kept in check so that we do not return to the period of anarchy," Musharraf told a press conference after U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
He said Pakistan had received assurances from the allied forces that any new "political dispensation" in Afghanistan would be broad-based and representative of the country's complex ethnic makeup.
The fall of the Taliban regime, representing the Pashtun ethnic majority, would create a volatile "political vacuum" which the opposition ethnic minority forces must not be allowed to fill, Musharraf speculated.
"This action [U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan's Taliban] should not be allowed to be taken advantage of by the Northern Alliance," he said, adding that, "The post-action scenario has to be extremely balanced."
"If this void is filled by the Northern Alliance ... I think we will return to anarchy and the atrocities and the criminal killings," he said, referring to the faction infighting of the early 1990s.
The groups making up the opposition forces, including the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara ethnic minorities are poised to help allied forces and capitalize on the Taliban's weakness to expand their remote pockets of territory, AFP reported.
He said the alliance represented only 10 to 15 percent of the country and Afghanistan would descend into anarchy if they took over.
Musharraf said the dominant ethnic Pashtun group, which the Taliban draws its support from, make up between 50 and 60 percent of Afghanistan's population and must form a major stake in a post-Taliban government.
But many Afghans have bitter memories of how the disparate ethnic factions, including Pashtun groups, turned Kabul into a war zone as they fought for the spoils of power following the 1979-89 Soviet occupation.
The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and were initially welcomed by the population because they restored security after years of violent lawlessness.
Musharraf said he was prepared to speak to exiled former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah about prospects for a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan.
"In that vacuum, maybe Zahir Shah has a role to play, but we need to analyze and crystallize our view," he said.
Musharraf said a future government in Afghanistan should be "friendly" to Pakistan.
"Certainly, Pakistan would like to have a friendly Afghanistan on our west," Musharraf told reporters.
Musharraf said he had sought and received assurances from the United States and Britain that a "friendly" Afghan government would be the outcome of military action against the Taliban regime.
"I have been assured," he said in response to a question about whether he had discussed the make-up of a post-Taliban government with the Western powers.
Musharraf said repeatedly during his press conference that Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan, and its support of the military action against the Taliban, was in his country's national interests.
"No policies remain constant, only national interests remain constant," he said.
According to BBC's online news service, Musharraf has tried to reassure Pakistanis that the military action in Afghanistan will be "short" and "targeted".
General Musharraf said that the attacks were being directed against "terrorist camps" rather than Afghan cities.
"It is an action against terrorists and their sanctuaries and their supporters," General Musharraf said.
He said Pakistan had offered its support to the U.S.-led coalition and he had been informed in advance of the strikes, but that Pakistani airspace had not been used so far.
There have been reports, however, that U.S. and British forces attacking Afghanistan yesterday did use Pakistani airspace.
With fears of a backlash against the Pakistani government in the event of civilian casualties, Musharraf stressed that it was not a war against Afghanistan, BBC said.
Musharaf said Pakistan could not accept another influx of Afghan refugees and would not open its borders following U.S.-led attacks in Afghanistan.
He said that more than a million refugees could be expected to try to enter Pakistan following the U.S.-led strikes, but only the sick or infirm would be allowed to cross the border.
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