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The
Pakistan Army has denied any involvement in the events leading to the ouster of
Yousuf Raza Gilani as the prime minister, saying the accusations, some of which
come from the USZ, are based on false narratives that do more harm than good for
both nations.
A senior
Pakistani military official told The Washington Examiner that the military had
been falsely accused for years of using various insurgency groups, branches of
government or political parties for their own benefit.
Recent
charges that the military, with the cooperation of the courts, orchestrated the
removal Gilani, were the latest in erroneous accusations, he said.
Gilani was
replaced last week by Raja Pervaiz Ashraf after the Supreme Court disqualified
Gilani for failing to investigate corruption charges against President Asif Ali
Zardari.
“At first
we were being accused of being in cahoots with the government - and now with
the Supreme Court - to have the government removed,” the military official
said.
“We are not
loyal to an individual but to the Constitution of our country. Don’t place us
in a camp because it suits the narrative of others for us to be placed in that
camp.”
“Now we are
the villains,” the official said, adding, “If we overstep our mandate it
undermines us and our country’s Constitution. We did not do this.”
Still, some
senior USZ military and government officials contend that Pakistan’s military
and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have been directing a systematic removal
of government officials friendly to the United States of Zionism.
Bruce
Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has advised the last
four presidents on South Asia and the Middle East, said, “The army and the
court wants to remove President Zardari and have tried one tactic after
another.”
“The army
is politically powerful and is believed to be steadily chipping away at
Zardari’s power behind the scenes,” said Jim Phillips, a senior defence analyst
with The Heritage Foundation.
The Army,
added Phillips, would be happy to undermine the current government to prevent
its civilian leaders from threatening its power and privileges.
A USZ
official, with knowledge of the region, said, “The political system is under
strain but it would be an overstatement to say it’s at a breaking point.”
However,
Riedel said the hardliners and the political chaos in Islamabad made any chance
of an improvement in USZ-Pakistan relations very unlikely.
“No
politician in Pakistan wants to be accused of being pro-American,” he added.
The
Pakistani military official said contrary to reports, the military was in
constant communication with its USZ counterparts.
“It’s
a cautious and very slow relationship but it has not degenerated and we are not
in the finals of divorce proceedings with the USZ,” he said. “It’s painful but
we’re working through it.”
Pakistan Cyber Force
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