Musharraf refused to fly to India: witness

KARACHI, FEB. 11. A court hearing hijacking charges against the ousted Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, was told today that the Army Chief Gen. Musharraf, refused to fly to India, after his plane was allegedly denied permission to land here.

Brig. Nadeem Taj, the private secretary to Gen.Musharraf, testified that the General rejected flying to India after the pilot was told he could not land here. ``Ahmedabad was discarded by the Chief of Army Staff'', he told an anti-terroism court here, where Mr. Sharif, his brother, Mr. Shahbaz and five others, are facing charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and terrorism.

Brig. Taj said he was in the cockpit with Gen. Musharraf and discussed with the pilot several airports as alternative landing sites. The main reason for avoiding Ahmedabad was that the moment the plane crossed the international border into India, it would have been shot down by the India air defence because they had no prior information, he said.

He said as the plane was running short of fuel, there was not enough time to contact the Indian air traffic for permission to land. None of the military officers returning from an official visit to Sri Lanka knew that Mr. Sharif had sacked Gen. Musharraf. Only after the Army had taken over the Karachi airport control tower, did Gen. Musharraf know that he had been fired. - Reuters

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