US Media Getting it “All
Wrong” on Pakistan: Durrani
Ambassador
Durrani |
Washington, DC: Pakistan’s
ambassador in US Mahmud Ali Durrani has accused the mainstream
US media of “getting the story all wrong” when
it comes to Pakistan’s efforts to root out terrorism
and Islamic extremism.
“None of their information is correct,” he told
The Washington Diplomat, a publication focused on the diplomatic
corps based in Washington. “We are more than victims
of terrorism, but there are people who don’t believe
us. Pakistan has become a fall guy for all the bad things
happening in the neighborhood,” he added. He said the
attack on former premier Benazir Bhutto’s homecoming
procession was carried out either by Al Qaeda or the Taliban,
or a combination of the two. Neither the governments of Pakistan
nor India was involved. “Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf
had the same agenda. They were two allies. These people who
did this have a very narrow vision of Islam. They probably
think she’s not a real Muslim.” In the long term,
he was hopeful, liberal forces would galvanize and get together,
leaving their differences behind to fight the common enemy.
Durrani said the possibility of President Musharraf forming
a coalition with Benazir Bhutto was “high” because
the government had exonerated her of any possible crimes.
“By law, anybody who’s convicted of corruption
cannot run. But in those cases, which were under investigation
for 10 years and never proven, we give amnesty. The allegations
of corruption against Benazir were not proven. The government
wants a consensus so that we move ahead without any acrimony
or mistrust.”
He conceded that “Pakistan was in bed with the Taliban
when they were governing Afghanistan, for an excellent reason.
We always supported the government in Kabul, irrespective
of who it was. But that’s history now. We gave that
up after 9/11, when we made a 180-degree switch because we
found that was in our interest.”
The interview took place at what the journal calls “Pakistan’s
$17 million embassy on International Drive.” Durrani
said Pakistan has “almost licked” Al Qaeda after
the 9/11 attacks but everything changed after the US invaded
Iraq, reviving Al Qaeda. He said global pledges made to Afghanistan
had not been honored, warning, “If you don’t give
them an alternative way of life, they will kill. This is the
only thing they know.”
There was also a growing nexus between Al Qaeda and international
drug barons. He said criticism of Pakistan’s peace agreement
in the tribal areas was “totally misconstrued”
and a “lot of BS (bullshit)”.
He said as ambassador he had no problems with the administration
or the public but he had one with the media, which is getting
the Pakistan story wrong. He defended his country on the Daniel
Pearl and Mukhtar Mai cases. He explained, “Danny Pearl
goes to meet the bad guys and gets in trouble. Tomorrow night,
walk into some bad neighborhood of DC, and you’re also
likely to get in trouble … One rape in Pakistan? There
are more unreported rapes in the United States than the total
number of rapes in Pakistan. If it happens in a village following
some stupid custom, then people perceive that it’s happening
all over the country.”
About US unpopularity in Pakistan, the ambassador said, “If
today, you have a crowd of 1,000 people chanting anti-American
slogans and somebody offers to give out US visas, 900 would
definitely accept, if not all of them. Pakistani people like
American values and the American system.”
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