Zardari had said ‘Benazir’s life is in danger’: Sethi

LAHORE: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Nadeem Nusrat on Saturday said they were confident that his party was not involved in money laundering.
Despite the repeated claims that the Muttahida’s chapter would soon be closed, the party had always regrouped in even more organised manner, Nusrat said while answering various questions during ‘Aapas ki Baat’ - a popular current affairs programme of Geo News.
According to Nusrat, his party is not being allowed to function amid closure of its offices and media trial, but the MQM would prove its popularity in upcoming LG polls like it did in NA-246 by-election.
It is big question why the MQM is being pushed to the wall as it was Muttahida which demanded operation in Karachi. Accusing the MQM workers of attacking their party leaders and offices is a joke as the Taliban had accepted the responsibility targeting the MQM leaders.
About Altaf Hussain’s statement that the government and establishment want to kill him, Nusrat said although Chaudhry Nisar in his 2008 interview had referred to an interaction with the then army chief, Pervez Musharraf, that took place in 1998, it was about the institution and the elements therein.
He said the London police had not informed them about the content of questions to be asked during the upcoming interview of Altaf, but they had been cooperating in the money laundering probe. The recovery of 400,000 pounds sterling from the office a large party like MQM was not a big deal, he remarked.
Responding to a question about Mohsin Ali Syed, Nusrat said that they would be grateful to the British government for arresting the killers of Dr Imran Farooq.
In his analysis, Najam Sethi said he did not agree with the opinion of Nusrat and opined that the bail for Altaf would be extended after his questioning on Monday (Oct 5).
Citing London-based Geo News reporter Murtaza Ali Shah, he said the officials of a public relations firm (hired by the MQM) had visited Karachi for an update on the situation in the city to ascertain what kind of protest the MQM should stage so that it could be successful, if Altaf was arrested. He also mentioned the recent strike call given by the MQM had failed.
According to Sethi, the basic objective is to pressurise the UK government, not Pakistan, and that is why the firm raised the issue of human rights at the European Parliament, thus showing that they would pursue their case on the basis of human rights.
Secondly, the ongoing murder probe and the talk about the witness being sent to London is a matter of great concern for the MQM. The governments of Pakistan and the UK as well as the Scotland Yard know how the entire matter would be shaped in future.
Sethi, while mentioning the British spy agency - Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 -, said the MQM had always been an asset for the UK government and especially its spy agencies. It was just like the Pakistani establishment which once had similar views about the Taliban; however, it wasn’t the case now, he added.
According to Sethi, it was due to the thinking in case Pakistan is dismembered and the importance of Karachi, which would have required western influence. The British government previously has had these views but it is not clear whether the UK was thinking on these lines on its own or it was acting as a US proxy.
However, this view is dead ever since Pakistan became a nuclear power. As a result, the opinion of western powers has also changed, with another important reason that the Pakistan’s military leadership is very serious in addressing the issue. A latest report submitted to the British government has made it realise that it is better not to support the MQM as the people of Karachi are with the army and Rangers. Peace in Karachi is in the best interest of Pakistan and world community.
According to Sethi (about US journalist Mark Siegel’s statement in Benazir Bhutto case), the late PPP chairperson was meeting the US authorities in New York in 2007 and there were rumours that she had reached a deal with Musharraf. Later, she phoned him and asked about his (Sethi’s) opinion whether she could trust Musharraf. But at that point Zardari snatched phone from her and asked him, “Sethi! What suggestion are you giving to her? Give her the advice which I am giving to her and that is Musharraf could never be trusted. And I fear that there would be threat to her life.”
Later, Benazir visited Lahore after the Karachi attack and he met her at Khosa’s residence where she shared her fears and details of the letter, containing the three names. Benazir had said she asked Americans to press Musharraf for providing security to her but he refused. She also asked Dick Cheney to ensure security for her similar to that for diplomats through Blackwater but he also did not agree.
Benazir had told him that these people would not protect her and those wanting to kill her would carry out attack. She also said that Musharraf was unhappy because she was supposed to return home after general elections which also provided a similar opportunity to Nawaz Sharif.