These are the conclusions drawn by a Delhi-based journalist, Rajeev Sharma, and figure prominently in his recently released book, Pak Proxy: A Story of ISI, bin Laden and Kargil. It's only a coincidence, says Sharma, that the book's release synchronised with Musharraf taking over the reins of Pakistan.

In fact, an entire chapter, A Man Called Pervez Musharraf is devoted to the man now in the limelight. This particular chapter, which throws light on the rise and rise of Musharraf, details his widening rift with ISI chief Lt Gen Ziauddin (the latter, like Sharif, is currently under Army custody).

Ironically, when the Kargil adventure was being worked out, Ziauddin's wasthe only voice of dissent significantly confirming what Defence Minister George Fernandes had said during the peak of the conflict, Sharma says.Ziauddin had argued that the plan was bound to trigger off a strong military reprisal from India, claims the author.

According to the book, Musharraf is also known for his betraying nature and has always ``kicked the very ladder he used for climbing up in his career'', says a new book. ``Though a blue-eyed boy of Sharif, Musharraf's good relations with him could not last even six months after he was made the Chief of Army Staff. ``By March 1999, a noticeable degree of coolness had crept into their relationship,'' it says, claiming that way back in 1995 there was a move ``by disgruntled elements in the Pakistan army'' to boot out Benazir Bhutto and instal Musharraf as ``head of an Islamic state''.

Tracing events leading to his rise to the ``highest office a soldier can aspire to'', Sharma says, ``the choice of Musharraf as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was strangebecause he is a mohajir of Azamgarh/Karachi origin''.Gen Musharraf has in fact come a long way from a position when as a brigadier ``he had caught the eye of (then) President Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s".

``The brigadier perhaps had one characteristic which struck a chord in Gen Zia's heart... (he) was a devout deobandi and was in the good books of the Jamaat-e-Islami". In fact Musharraf's proximity to the hardcore Jamaati fundamentalists came handy when their ``strong recommendation'' bolstered his chances of being appointed as army chief, the book says.

Musharraf's personality can well be gauged from the fact that though a mohajir himself `he detests mohajirs', the author writes.