M A I N   N E W S

Give evidence, says Pervez 
Cancels Id holidays of armed forces

Islamabad, December 15
Warning retaliation against any Indian “misadventurism”, President Pervez Musharraf today virtually rejected New Delhi’s demand for action against Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for the attack on Parliament and doubted the evidence given in this regard.

In an interview to state-run PTV, he wanted evidence that it was a terrorist attack on Parliament.

General Musharraf said “We will take action against anybody from Pakistan involved in these acts, if at all proved.”

“Having said this,” he remarked “whatever our analysis is that the proof is inadequate at the moment. In fact there are lot of indications which may implicate a design behind this operation. So we would like to be very sure. We need concrete evidence that if it is a terrorist act and if at all any one has been involved, we would like to move against them.”

Musharraf said that there was a degree of rhetoric developing from India through its media.

“I would like to warn that any adventurism against Pakistan on this issue will be met with force. So I would like to warn against any precipitate action by the Indian government against Pakistan. This would lead to serious repercussions.

The President said he had already condemned the attack and had written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee expressing grief and sorrow over the attack.

Meanwhile, the armed forces in Pakistan have been put on high alert following statements by Indian leaders blaming it for the attack.

A high-level armed forces meeting, held at Rawalpindi yesterday and chaired by the President, decided to put the armed forces on alert “to avoid any threat to the country’’.

Though officials did not elaborate on the deliberations in the meeting, according to reports, the top brass of the armed forces decided not to ignore the Indian threat.

The Air Force has also been put on a high alert to meet any untoward situation. The Id holidays for the armed forces have been cancelled. PTI