Pakistan's president blames West for extremism

Pakistan’s President Gen Pervez Musharraf today blamed the West for breeding terrorism in his country by bringing in thousands of mujahedeen to fight the Soviets in neighbouring Afghanistan then leaving Pakistan alone a decade later to face the armed warriors.

Musharraf told the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee Pakistan is not the intolerant, extremist country often portrayed by the West, and terrorism and extremism are not inherent to Pakistani society.

“Whatever extremism or terrorism is in Pakistan is a direct fallout of the 26 year of warfare and militancy around us.

“It gets back to 1979 when the West, the United States and Pakistan waged a war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,” Musharraf told MEPs.

Musharraf, on his first visit to the EU headquarters, also said he was optimistic about the chances for finding a solution to decades-old dispute over the Kashmir region, saying Pakistan’s relations with India “have never been this good".