Date:12/03/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/03/12/stories/2003031208391200.htm

International

Pak. to abstain from second resolution on Iraq

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD March 11. Breaking off from its image as a `client-state' of the United States, Pakistan has decided to abstain from the second resolution on Iraq tabled by the U.K.-U.S. combine in the United Nations Security Council.

The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, chose to explain the rationale to his people through a public address televised and broadcast on the state-run electronic media. Incidentally, it is Mr. Jamali's first speech to the nation since he took office four months ago.

Overwhelming public opinion against any military action on Iraq and widespread `anti-American sentiment' appear to have influenced the Pervez Musharraf-Jamali Government to defy the U.S. pressure to vote in favour of its resolution that could pave the way for war on or before the March 17 deadline set for Saddam Hussain to disarm or face war. While there is little doubt that Pakistan's decision is `historic' given the nature of Islamabad's relations with Washington, it has opted not to go the whole hog. Pakistan, which is largely dependent on Washington for its economic and military needs, is aware of the price it would have to pay if it were to vote against the U.S. The way Pakistan was heading on the Iraq crisis was evident when Mr. Jamali announced at a news conference that his country would not be a party to a war that would lead to Iraq's destruction and cause suffering to its people.

It was left to the spokesman of Mr. Jamali's party to translate the Prime Minister's words in the context of the second resolution. "Pakistan will abstain from the voting" at the U.N. Security Council, said Azeem Chaudhry, a spokesman for the Quaid-e-Azam faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. "We will not be giving our opinion in the Council. When he (Jamali) said Pakistan would not back a war on Iraq that means we will abstain. We want a peaceful resolution of the issue."

The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, has been under tremendous pressure within and outside on the second resolution tabled by the U.K.-U.S. combine. In his interaction with Mr. Bush on telephone and other senior functionaries of the Bush Administration, Gen. Musharraf has been harping on the theme that war against Iraq at this juncture could lead to serious problems in the Muslim world in general and Pakistan in particular. He has been emphasising the need for exhausting all diplomatic options and the U.N. route.