'The Extremists Dislike Me'

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has become a close ally of the Bush administration in its war against terrorism, but he made clear last week that he has some policy disagreements with the current White House. In a wide-ranging interview with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth, Musharraf said that the United States and Great Britain must withdraw their troops from Iraq. Musharraf, who was in New York for the annual ministerial meeting at the United Nations, also argued vehemently that the Palestinian issue is the root cause of anti-U.S. feelings in the Middle East and of terrorism. Excerpts:

Weymouth: You have said you will not resign as army chief of staff at the end of this year. Why?

Musharraf: I haven't said I won't take off the uniform. I have yet to decide. I would like to give you the reasons. The international and domestic environments are complex. We are following a foreign policy that needs continuity. We are fighting terrorism internationally, and that needs continuity. Then, there is the issue of Indo-Pakistan relations. There is a rapprochement. There is hope for a resolution of disputes [with India]. Then, we are changing the entire psyche of our society, which has been held hostage to extremist ideas. The vast majority are moderate, but they were voiceless. The entire mindset needs to be changed, which we are doing . . .

Were military officers involved in the assassination attempts against you and your prime minister? Have terrorists penetrated your army?

There is involvement of some few lower-level people, but there are no officers involved.

Who is carrying out these attempts?

There are dozens of terrorist groups that have sprung up in the past two decades. One needs to confront them and bring them down. They are on the periphery of Pakistani society, so we can easily fight them. But a change in culture is required.

U.S. officials contend that terrorist groups are still raising money and recruiting in Pakistan under different names in spite of your ban. To what extent are you willing to crush domestic terrorism?

We are cracking down in all possible ways. They are banned, and as far as recruitment, that is also totally banned. Groups may do it clandestinely but previously they had offices and recruiting centers all over. Their accounts have been frozen and offices sealed.

Aren't these groups a danger to you?

Yes, indeed, they are a danger. They are well armed and well trained and have no lack of resources. But I can face them.

Do these groups have ties to al Qaeda?

Within these extremist groups are masterminds, invariably from al Qaeda. [The masterminds] get an extremist Pakistani to plan operations and recruit people. Therefore, we are hitting the masterminds so that we dry up the planner.

Did you and President Bush decide on any plan of action against al Qaeda during your meeting last week?