Musharraf says he’s no US “poodle”

LONDON (Reuters) – Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf
has rejected accusations he is a Western “poodle,” saying his
fight against Islamic militants is for his country’s benefit,
not for the United States or Britain.

“I am nobody’s poodle,” he said in an interview with
Britain’s Guardian newspaper on Friday. “I have enough strength
of my own to lead.

“When you talk about fighting terrorism or extremism, I am
not doing that for the U.S. or Britain, I am doing it for
Pakistan.”

Musharraf, an important ally in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism, has faced repeated opposition protests about his
relationship with President Bush.

A 10,000-strong crowd gathered in the central Punjab region
last month to hear opposition leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman
call a visit by Bush an attempt at “enslaving the Pakistani
nation and rewarding General Musharraf for his patriotism to
America.”

Newspapers have carried critical pieces on U.S. foreign
policy in Pakistan and one has a “Mush & Bush” column
lampooning the two leaders’ relationship.

Asked by the Guardian if he had the “teeth” to bite back at
his Western allies, Musharraf said: “Yes sir, I personally do
– a lot of teeth. Sometimes the teeth do not have to be shown.
Pragmatism is required in international relations.”

Pakistan has captured or killed hundreds of al Qaeda
members since Musharraf joined a U.S.-led war on terrorism
after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Anger has been building in Pakistan over repeated U.S.
attacks in the country, including an airstrike in January which
killed 18 civilians in the remote Bajaur region.

Musharraf told the Guardian: “The strike was an
infringement of our sovereignty and I condemned it.”