Eurasia Press & News
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said a possible US attack on Iran would be a “terrible mistake.” “It will be a terrible mistake if President George Bush orders an attack against Iran,” Musharraf told Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz ahead of his visit to Bosnia.
“I’m concerned about the possibility that a US attack on Iran (would cause) turbulence in the region,” he said, warning it would spark “radicalism.”
The United States wants Iran to suspend a uranium enrichment program over fears the material could be used for nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists it is only interested in producing energy.
Washington also accuses Iran of aggravating violence in neighboring Iraq, which Iran denies vehemently.
Musharraf is to arrive in the capital Sarajevo later on Friday for the first official visit to Bosnia during which he is to meet with the country’s leaders.
During the two-day visit, the Pakistani leader is also scheduled to pay respects to victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Some 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys were killed in and around the eastern town by Serb forces at the end of Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war. The atrocity is the worst in Europe since World War II.
In the interview, Musharraf reiterated accusations against Afghan President Hamid Karzai about Pakistan’s lack of readiness to fight terrorism.
Afghan authorities “must stop spreading those bare-faced lies. President Karzai must stop deluding the world,” said Musharraf.
He also denied accusations from Karzai that Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar were in Pakistan.
The comments set the stage for a stormy meeting in Turkey next week between Musharraf and Karzai, two key allies of the United States.
Afghan and US officials have blamed Pakistan for failing to prevent Taliban-led militants from attacking US, NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan’s tribal areas along their 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) common border.
