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Musharraf appeal to Al-Qaeda

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD July 12 . The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, tonight appealed to Al-Qaeda and Taliban activists who have sneaked into the country to surrender peacefully. In return, his Government would hand them over to their countries.

In his address to the people of Pakistan on the state-controlled Pakistan Television and Radio, Gen. Musharraf said the "agenda" being pursued by the infiltrators from Afghanistan was not in Pakistan's interests and said no responsible Government could allow outsiders to operate with impunity.

It was the first acknowledgement at the highest level of the presence of Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.

Gen. Musharraf said there were "misapprehensions" in the minds of the people about the operations launched by military and para-military forces in search of the Al-Qaeda operatives in the sensitive tribal areas.

He dubbed as "misinformation" that forces of the United States were engaged in these operations. Only a dozen American intelligence personnel formed part of the exercise and they were only aiding the Pakistan forces in intelligence and information gathering.

``I want the people of Pakistan to understand as to whom against we have launched these operations. These were the people who had come to Afghanistan from different parts of the world to fight along with the U.S. and its allies against the Soviet occupation.

They got arms and aid from the West and they were with the West. Now their agenda has changed. The agenda they are pursuing is not in the interest of the agenda of Pakistan,'' Gen. Musharraf said.

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