Islamabad: Ruling out imposition of Emergency to deal with a spate of bombings in Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday, however, made a case for his continuation as both President and Army Chief saying that a "civilian set-up" alone cannot control the backlash of the military crackdown on the Lal Masjid.
Musharraf, during an interaction with editors of the local media organisations in Rawalpindi, said that Pakistan was in "direct confrontation with the extremist forces."
His remarks came after 34 people, including 17 soldiers, were killed in fierce separate clashes with pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's restive tribal region on Wednesday.
"I must emphasise that no emergency is being imposed," Musharraf said during the interaction with editors. "There would be no imposition of emergency," he was quoted as saying by the state-run APP news agency.
At the same time, Musharraf also said that the violent situation arising out of the recent crackdown on the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid cannot be dealt with by a civilian set-up alone as unity of command was required to tackle it.
In other words he was suggesting that a new set-up, which would be formed after general elections due for later this year, cannot deal with it alone.
Musharraf said as planned earlier he would go head with his re-election as President by the preset assemblies in uniform between September 15 and October 15, even though opposition parties termed his move as undemocratic as he cannot get re-elected by the same assemblies twice.
He was elected by the present assemblies in November 2002.
He said a caretaker government will be announced before the general elections according to the Constitution.
Pledging that he would not violate the Constitution, Musharraf said, "I am here and not going anywhere."
On efforts to deal with threats of militants to unleash a wave of violent attacks specially in tribal areas, he said two divisions of Army have been deployed in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) governed by Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA).
To deal with the present situation, Musharraf urged moderate political forces to join hands in effectively combating the challenge of extremism and terrorism facing the country.
"The solution lies in the democratic process. I want to take Pakistan on the road to moderation. My priority is my country and its people," he said.
Musharraf said it was imperative for the future of Pakistan that "moderate political forces get together to meet the challenge of extremism, specially in the post-election scenario."
Referring to the ongoing terrorist attacks, Musharraf said, "We are in direct confrontation with the extremist forces - moderates Vs extremists."
"We have to rise above personal, party and all other interests and look to the future of Pakistan," the General said.
He described extremism neither a pro-religion nor an anti-religion issue. "I am pro-religion, but do not support misinterpretation of Islam or an extremist interpretation of Islam."
About his plans to deal with volatile tribal areas where pro-al-Qaeda and Taliban militants were up in arms against security forces, Musharraf said comprehensive measures were needed to contain Talibanisation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
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