The relationship between Asif Ali Zardari and his predecessor Pervez Musharraf is not at all good and it was reflected in an interview when the General called the Pakistan President a “criminal”, a “fraud” and a “third rater”.

In an interview with noted journalist Seymour Hersh, Musharraf said that Zardari would go to any extent to save himself.

Hersh, in a detailed report on Pakistan, wrote: “Musharraf did not spare his successor. ‘Asif Zardari is a criminal and a fraud. He’ll do anything to save himself. He’s not a patriot and he’s got no love for Pakistan. He’s a third-rater’.”

Musharraf said that he and General Kayani, who had been his nominee for Chief of Army Staff, were still in telephonic contact.

He said he didn’t think the Army was capable of a mutiny. “There are people with fundamentalist ideas in the Army, but I don’t think there is any possibility of these people getting organised and doing an uprising. These ‘fundos’ were disliked and not popular.”

“The Muslims think highly of Obama, and he should use his acceptability — even with the Taliban — and try to deal with them politically,” The News quoted Musharraf, as saying.

Musharraf spoke of two prior attempts to create a fundamentalist uprising in the Army. In both cases, he said, the officers involved were arrested and prosecuted.

“I created the strategic force that controls all the strategic assets — eighteen to twenty thousand strong. They are monitored for character and for potential fundamentalism,” he said.

... contd.