Pakistan:no sympathy for India-supporter Iraq

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Pakistan has no sympathy for India-supporter Iraq, says Foreign

Minister

 

PTI

 

NEW YORK: Although Pakistan has no sympathy for Iraqi president

Saddam Hussein because Baghdad "backed" India on Kashmir, yet it

favours giving more time to UN inspectors to avoid a "destablising"

anti-American backlash back home.

 

"Islamabad has no sympathy for the Iraqi President because he had

lent his backing to India on the Kashmir issue," Pakistan Foreign

Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said in an interview.

 

Kasuri, however, said he was in favour of giving more time to the UN

arms inspectors fearing that a unilateral US action may not find

support from the predominant Muslim population and would create a

problem for his Government.

 

"We have to present this in a way that people know it is not a

selective application of security council resolutions," he said.

 

If the inspectors want some time, they should be given that, Kasuri

said, adding "... It doesn't mean unlimited time, so that everybody

will forget about the situation in Iraq."

 

It is crucial for Pakistan, which just joined the council to have an

air-tight case against Iraq to present at home to avoid

a "destabilising anti-American backlash."

 

"Nobody has anything to do with Saddam," he said. Pakistan remains

keen to preserve strong relations with the Bush administration, he

said. But is in a "particularly difficult situation" because of the

tensions created in the Muslim country by its support for the US war

to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan.