Kuli: I never advocated martial law

[Lahori paa jee]

A statement worth reading to get ones facts right

Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak has disputed President General Pervez Musharraf’s claim in his book, In the Line of Fire, that he advocated imposition of martial law when then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif forced General Jehangir Karamat, army chief at the time, to resign.

Kuli told The News he never made a case for military rule. “My view was that the Army should be firm and fair in dealing with all situations. I certainly advised General Jehangir Karamat not to resign as Army chief but I didn’t ask him to stage a coup and impose martial law,” he maintained.

Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Kuli and General Musharraf were batch-mates, having joined the 29th Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) course in Kakul and then becoming involved in an often bitter competition.

“I can say we were friends until I was made Chief of General Staff (CGS). Musharraf was very unhappy that he couldn’t make it,” Kuli recalled. Reached in Karachi for his reaction to the observations made by Musharraf about him in the book, Kuli argued it was a one-sided version of events in which facts have been misrepresented and half-truths inserted to make General Musharraf look good.

“I am reading the book and preparing a rejoinder. Some of the references about me are not true,” he stressed. Keen to refute the claim that he advocated imposition of martial law, Kuli said as CGS to Karamat he was aware that prime minister Nawaz Sharif was angry about Karamat’s speech at the Naval War College in which he had recommended reforms such as formation of National Security Council to improve the government’s working.

“I also knew that Karamat had written a letter to Sharif to explain his thinking and had spoken about the need for reforms in a meeting of the defence committee. Sharif later told Karamat that he should have pointed out these things to him alone instead of raising them in presence of others in the defence committee meeting,” he explained.

Furious PM: Continuing, Kuli said: “General Karamat told me that Sharif was furious and the situation was worse than he had told me. In presence of ISI Chief Lt-Gen Nasim Rana, the question of General Karamat’s resignation also came up for discussion. I told him don’t even think of resigning because the verdict that you would receive would be so damning that you would not be able to live with it. This is what I said and I own it even now. But at no stage, whether it was the corps commanders’ conference or that of the principal staff officers, I asked him to stage a coup,” he contended.

Kuli also denied the president’s assertion about having a small run-in with him for having advocated removal of (elected prime minister) Nawaz Sharif. “I don’t remember having any run-in with him. Also, I never reported on him and would like him to show me one instance of any such thing,” he said.

“By the way, it was Musharraf who subsequently removed the elected prime minister, i.e. Nawaz Sharif, from power,” he argued. He pointed out that Musharraf met Prime Sharif without obtaining Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat’s permission.

“A serving soldier must always obtain the army chief’s permission for such meetings. Musharraf first met Sharif who told him that he was being made army chief and later called on Karamat,” he alleged.

Kuli stated that he resigned from the Pakistan Army when Sharif appointed General Musharraf as the army chief.

“I and Lt-Gen Khalid Nawaz quit our jobs in keeping with the highest traditions of Pakistan Army when we were superceded,” he stated.

Whole truth: “Musharraf in his book hasn’t told the whole truth with regard to our telephonic conversation after he became the army chief. I rang him twice and was able to talk to him on the second try. I congratulated him on becoming the army chief and wished him good luck. I told him I was travelling to Peshawar to attend a wedding in the family. I also informed him that I was going to resign in line with the high traditions of Pakistan Army,” he said.

“In fact, Lt-Gen Ziauddin as the Adjutant General asked me whether I would be coming to the GHQ the next day to attend the reception for General Musharraf on his promotion. I told him I wasn’t going to come. I put in my resignation and never stepped foot in the (General headquarters (GHQ) again,” he remembered.

Kuli claimed that General Musharraf during their phone conversation uttered only two words, “thank you” and “ok.”

“I was surprised to read in the book that General Musharraf said “bad luck” to me for having missed the chance to become the army chief. He also didn’t ask me to stay on in the army. I am amazed that he has written things that never happened,” he complained.

“Musharraf once complained to a common friend that I didn’t felicitate him on becoming the army chief. I felicitated him after hearing the news of his promotion in the 9 pm news on television. I am not a hypocrite and it is true that I wasn’t at all happy that Musharraf had overtaken me and become the army chief. I had been a better officer than him throughout our careers but now I had lost out to him. But it didn’t mean that I didn’t congratulate him or stopped talking to him,” he said.

“In fact, I have met Musharraf on quite a few occasions in recent years, sometimes at weddings and other social occasions, and exchanged pleasantries. I visited the Army House to offer Fateha when his father died. We also met at our PMA course get-togethers. Once, I attended a dinner at the Army House to which I was invited by the NCHD head Dr Nasim Ashraf and shared table with the president. He was very gracious to me on that occasion,” he recalled.

Front-runner: The retired, 63-year-old general claimed he was ahead of General Musharraf throughout their military careers. “I was commissioned as number one in PMA Kakul while Musharraf was at 11th position. Khalid Nawaz, Shabbir Sharif Shaheed and others were also ahead of him. I and Khalid Nawaz did the Staff College course in 1973 while Musharraf could do it a year later in 1974. I topped the Army Aviation course and was declared the best flier. I also served as commandant, Staff College, Quetta, commanded the 10th Corps, and got the most prized appointment as CGS,” he said.

Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Kuli Khan said he was sent to Sandhurst in UK as the top cadet on PMA Kakul. “Each of the four companies at the PMA was asked to recommend four top names. I, Khalid Nawaz, Shabbir Sharif and Zaheerul Islam Afridi were listed. Musharraf may have been in the list of his company but he was never sent to Sandhurst,” he pointed out.

Kuli also found fault with some of Musharraf’s policies. He accused him of mishandling the situation in Waziristan and Balochistan and ordering the bombing and killing of our own people. He felt both issues ought to have been resolved politically.

“I know from my sources that five to six military officers including colonels were court-martialled for refusing to fire on our people in Waziristan,” he claimed.

Kargil capers: Describing the Kargil operation as disastrous, Kuli argued it was flawed in terms of its conception, tactical planning and execution.

“It was an unprofessional decision by someone, who has served in the Pakistan Army for 40 years. As the architect of Kargil, he must answer critical questions for sacrificing so many soldiers. I am sure Kargil would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life,” he maintained.

While still on Kargil, Kuli challenged the president’s claim that it had revived the Kashmir issue.

“I would say Kargil has damaged the Kashmir cause. It was a disaster bigger than the East Pakistan tragedy. At that time, Pakistan at least had some friends but on Kargil we were friendless. There was no way we could defend this tactless move,” he contended.

Describing Musharraf as “Mr General U-turn,” Kuli said: “His seven-year rule has been characterized by U-turns on policy matters. This president cannot hold on to anything. He is impulsive. He took decisions on Kargil, Waziristan, Balochistan and a host of other issues and then backtracked on most of them,” he alleged.

Kuli, who belongs to a well-known family from Karak district in NWFP and is related to certain influential politicians, said he had confined himself to running the family business after retirement.

“I have no interest in politics. A number of politicians wanted me to join their parties in any capacity that I wished but I declined the offers,” he recalled. He said he refrained from commenting on government policies until now to avoid confrontation with General Musharraf.

“I could have pinpointed the flaws in the tactical planning for Kargil. There are holes that are obvious. But sometimes one has to keep quiet to avoid harming national interest,” he added.

Source

After reading the news articles regarding Musharraf's claims on various issues im amazed what a liar and a coward he is.

Almost everything he has mentioned in the book is a complete distortion of the facts and is meant only to please the West.

It should be an eye opener for those who absolutely adore Mushy and his policies and consider him as the sole savior of Pakistan. The chap has gone crazy

• Mushy made a claim about Kargil ........................... Nawaz Sharif denied it and now Kuli khan has given his version. Mushy supporters or those who never tire of praising our army and are living in a fools world over the achievements of our army in battles with India especially Kargil, their opinion must change now. This was one mans adventurism.
  
• Bombing to stone age claim by Mushy was denied by Richard Armitage. Now we should wait for the statement by General Mehmood.
  
• Mushy's claim that "CIA gave money to Pakistan for handing over Al-Qaeda members and Taliban" was rejected by US. Mushy later changed his own statement and said "money was paid to certain individuals". Now the latest US statement says "No money was ever given".
  
• Mushy's original version of the 12 Oct 1999 coup and the hijacking case against Nawaz Sharif is absolute nonsense. Mushy himself in his book talks about counter coup. Pakistans constitution gave NS the power to change the chief but what authority did Mushy have to stage a counter coup.
  
• AQ Khan case and the intercepted letters thing has been rejected by his daughter.
  
• Vajpayee has denied the reasons for failure of Agra Summits as claimed in the book
  
• General Jehangir Karamat has said "I was not forced to resign and he himself chose to resign".

In short nothing that Mushy has said can be believed.

 

[blain2]

What you state is another exaggeration. Obviously all books as written by someone can be countered because the other side may not have perceived it the same way as the author or either the author or the subject may be forgetting everything.

A few points.

a) Bombing to stone age issue. How was the ultimatum "you are with us or against us" any different? It means the same thing that if you are not with us, we will bomb your asses back to the stone age. Like idiots we are arguing about the stupid threat instead of focusing on its semantic which in either case is the same.

b) Ali Kuli Khan had his own agenda just like Musharraf did. If PM went to see NS without getting the approval of the chief (which was wrong), AK Khan was getting his appointment pushed by some politicians but NS did not like him as he was Abdul Waheed Kakar's choice and NS did not want to do anything with anyone linked with Kakar.

c) " Pakistans constitution gave NS the power to change the chief but what authority did Mushy have to stage a counter coup."

He had no authority but what NS did was criminal as well. Someone had to stop him from forcing the aircraft to either crash or go to India and it took another coupe to do it.

I mean all your points would have to be refuted by others (aside from the one about Jehangir Karamat) as they shed a negative light on those individuals. If these people stay quiet then they look guilty (which they may or may not be). Truth is only known to the Almighty...

 

[Skeptic786]

He had no authority but what NS did was criminal as well. Someone had to stop him from forcing the aircraft to either crash or go to India and it took another coupe to do it.

How can NS action be criminal when it has no basis in law to be criminal. NS had the constitutional authority to dismiss Musharaf.....even if musharaf did as you said....stop the aircraft from crashing....how are the following criminal actions of Musharaf and his gang excusable??

1. dissolving of national and provisional assemblies ( what did they have to do with the plane )

2. the abrogation of the constitution

3. coming up with his mickey mouse rubbish PCO as law of the land...where does he have that authority?

4 Arrest of politicians who had nothing to do with NS actiont to dismiss him and where not even consulted on the issue.

i can go on...but lets have an answer for the above...since you paint the issue as matter of simply saving a plane from crashing.......when in truth as the chief executive of Pakistan....not only NS had the power and the authority to dismiss musharaf...he had power to stop the plane from landing....as well as the extreme step of having the plane shot down...which he didnot resort to due to civilians being on board...i am sure had musharaf been in place of NS...he would simply had the plane shot down.

 

[blain2]

How can NS action be criminal when it has no basis in law to be criminal. NS had the constitutional authority to dismiss Musharaf.....even if musharaf did as you said....stop the aircraft from crashing....how are the following criminal actions of Musharaf and his gang excusable??

1. dissolving of national and provisional assemblies ( what did they have to do with the plane )

2. the abrogation of the constitution

3. coming up with his mickey mouse rubbish PCO as law of the land...where does he have that authority?

4 Arrest of politicians who had nothing to do with NS actiont to dismiss him and where not even consulted on the issue.

i can go on...but lets have an answer for the above...since you paint the issue as matter of simply saving a plane from crashing.......when in truth as the chief executive of Pakistan....not only NS had the power and the authority to dismiss musharaf...he had power to stop the plane from landing....as well as the extreme step of having the plane shot down...which he didnot resort to due to civilians being on board...i am sure had musharaf been in place of NS...he would simply had the plane shot down.

It was criminal of NS to not allow the aircraft to land specially when it did not have much fuel left on it. The reckless endangerment is crime enough. A Pakistani PM does not have the right to endanger the lives of 100 or more Pakistani passengers (including children) in order to take care of his gripe with Musharraf. He would have been brought to the court to face charges had that happened in a country like the US. Maybe he should have offered Musharraf his private jet so he could have taken care of Musharraf all by himself.

1. dissolving of national and provisional assemblies ( what did they have to do with the plane )

Not a crime as you are making it out to be. Its been done plenty of times in the past. Going by your logic, I can compile a charge-sheet 10 pages long of the crimes that were perpetrated in the idiotic-duo's time at the helm of our country.

2. the abrogation of the constitution

Constitution was not abrogated this time around. We still have the constitution of 73 which happens to be the consititution of Pakistan today and it was held in abeyance until 2003 at which time it was fully restored.

3. coming up with his mickey mouse rubbish PCO as law of the land...where does he have that authority?

He has the authority since he is the defacto President of the country. The funny thing is that all your points are being made from the standpoint of a democratic Pakistan. A little bit of reality is that Pakistan has never been a democracy. You can rave and rant all day if you'd like but cannot convince me that in the dear land of Pakistan, a common person is able to excercise his right to governance by electing an honest and decent representative. Since this does not happen, why are people constantly going on and on about a flawed democracy? I think people of Pakistan saw more upliftment in the times of Ayub and Musharraf than they have seen ever. This is a fact. Not a perfect fact and sans democracy, yet one that requires us to think about what a Pakistani democracy entails....if its the BS sloganeering, demonstrations and non-cooperative governance, then the hell with it.

4 Arrest of politicians who had nothing to do with NS actiont to dismiss him and where not even consulted on the issue.

All of them were released soon thereafter. You would be kidding yourself if you thought something like this would not happen in Pakistan. Even BB and NS have gone after their opponents with a vengence and here you are talking about people who were democratically elected with a mandate to rule and unite the nation.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Two ex-ISI chiefs refute president’s statement

Two former chiefs of the Inter-Services Intelligence have rejected as baseless a statement of President Pervez Musharraf about former officials of the agency abetting Taliban.

Former ISI directors-general Asad Durrani and Hameed Gul, talking to Dawn, said there was no need to issue such a speculative statement.

Mr Durrani said he was at a loss to understand as to what was the need for issuing such a statement.

It would not serve any interest of Pakistan, he said.

He said some people in their individual capacity might have associated themselves with the Taliban, but it was improper to make such a statement without any concrete evidence.

He said the statement was highly speculative and it was astonishing to see it coming from the head of the state who was under oath to protect the interests of the country.

Mr Gul said former officers of the ISI were not involved in helping Taliban. He said the Taliban surfaced in 1994, some five years after his tenure as ISI chief was over and about three years after his retirement from the army.

He said Gen Musharraf was a distinct type of team captain who was scoring goals against his own team by accusing his own people. The nation was astonished to see the captain hell-bent to see his own team’s defeat, he said.

Mr Gul claimed that a charge-sheet against him was being prepared.

He said no Afghan leader, including President Hamid Karzai, had levelled such an allegation. “I am sure they do not have such an opinion about me,” he stressed. He said President Karzai had not named any personality but had accused the government of Pakistan.

He said perhaps the situation in Afghanistan had boggled Gen Musharraf as the defeat of United States interests in the country was visible. “We pray for the success of Taliban. If it is tantamount to helping someone, I do it everyday for the Afghan nation as I am a friend of the Afghan nation,” he remarked.

He said it was his desire to see the pullout of US forces from Afghanistan, which would be in the interest of both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He recalled that Gen Musharraf had also expressed his desire for a limited stay of US forces in Afghanistan.

He said retired officers of the ISI could not help Taliban. He said there was no dearth of weapons with Taliban as they had kalashnikovs, machine guns and rocket launchers in large numbers. They did not need training as they had been in war for 27 years and they were experienced enough now to deal with their enemies.

He said the opium trade was at its peak in Afghanistan with the blessings of US generals and businessmen. He said opium cultivation in the country this year was expected to cross 6,000 tons, while it had dropped to 185 tons in the last days of the Taliban rule.

He alleged that the founder of the country’s nuclear programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, had been put under house arrested on baseless charges.


Source

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Ali Kuli Khan issues rejoinder to ‘In the Line of Fire’

Like the two sides of a coin, there is inevitably, more than one to contend with, especially in matters of rivalry.

President General Pervez Musharraf's recently launched memoir In The Line of Fire has grabbed unprecedented public attention both at home and abroad. The impact could be gauged from reactions to the work, ranging from the highly favourable to unabashed scorn.

While it was predictable there would be a political dimension to the debate over contents in the memoir, some of these relate to individuals and issues that have necessarily triggered reactions for purposes of clarity -- the right to one's opinion, for instance.

The News offers this platform, without fear and favour, to anyone, particularly those who find a mention in the memoir, who wish to present their views, without ascribing to the same. Hereunder, we present a rejoinder issued by General (retired) Ali Kuli Khan Tuesday in response to Musharraf's references to him In The Line of Fire.

Ali Kuli resigned after he and Lt-General Khalid Nawaz were superseded by Musharraf for the post of chief of army staff. The appointment was made by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Ali Kuli says:

I have recently read General Musharraf's book In The Line Of Fire and like many others, I also have discovered its numerous lies, half truths and misleading statements. Lies do good to no-one, least of all a person who claims to be the democratically elected President of Pakistan and quite readily arrogates to himself the leadership of the Ummah. Also disappointing was the discovery of the self serving, motivated and false aspersions against my person. One had hoped that with the passage of time and with exposure to high positions, he would have shed his complexes, but this is obviously not so.

Given below are some details to support my assertions:-

* On Page 41: It is written "I was one of four candidates short-listed to go to Sandhurst, England, to complete my training ...."

Comments: This is patently untrue; the five Cadets selected by the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) and sent for interview/final selection to GHQ did not include Cadet Pervez Musharraf. The five Cadets selected by PMA for interview at GHQ were Shabbir Sharif, Afzal Malik, Khalid Nawaz, Zahur Afridi and Ali Kuli.

May I (without undue modesty) add that Ali Kuli was finally selected and did exceptionally well and was the first Pakistani Cadet to be made a Senior Under Officer at Sandhurst; an achievement which remains unequalled till date. I was also declared the Best Overseas Cadet and by dint of my performance was placed at the top of 29th PMA Long Course; General Pervez Musharraf was placed 11th in the Order of Merit.

On Page 79: "....Yet instead of me, he selected Lieutenant General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak, who I felt was a mediocre Officer. I must confess I was quite surprised and disappointed."

Comments: This pertains to my appointment as CGS and is an untruthful remark; Gen Musharraf knows fully well that my career record was far better than his in every respect. I will not labour on this futile point too long, because the professional prowess of both of us is well known. Suffice to say that had my record not been better, given all the connections elaborated upon by General Musharraf in the earlier part of the paragraph under reference, General Karamat would surely have preferred him over me. Actually there is not one single year or facet of our careers in which his record was better than mine.

On Page 85 of the book; General Musharraf gives an account of how he learnt of his elevation to COAS and a mention is made of my conversation with him on this subject. Regrettably even this innocuous encounter is misreported and a proselytising attitude adopted. The true sequence of events were as follows:-

-- I learnt of General Musharraf's appointment on PTV. I immediately rang him in the Armour Mess and I said "PM congratulations and best of luck"; I added further, "I will not be going to GHQ and will be leaving for Peshawar in the morning". I suspect I was probably one of the earlier people to congratulate him when he reached the Armour Mess and I admit that I was not exactly thrilled at the developments! During this conversation, General Musharraf said nothing more than "OK thanks"; there was also no display of magnanimity nor were there any conciliatory remarks from the newly appointed COAS who had superceded two senior colleagues; two days later, on return from Peshawar and in line with the time honoured tradition of the Army, I resigned. If General Musharraf is disappointed at my not having celebrated his elevation with greater gusto, then so be it, because I am much happier to be known for what I truly am and felt at the time.

-- As far as the remarks of "not speaking" or "not attending his dinners" are concerned, I again find them inaccurate. It is also true I did not attend the First Course Reunion after his elevation yet it is conveniently forgotten that I subsequently visited him twice at the Army House. Firstly, when I condoled with him on the passing away of his late father and Secondly when I was invited to the Army House along with Dr Nasim Ashraf's Human Development Organization. Also conveniently forgotten is the fact that I have attended numerous Annual Course Reunions, including some at The Presidency where Gen Musharraf was a gracious host and I sat on the same table with him! Apart from the above mentioned events we have met briefly at many marriages and social occasions.

Finally, we all know that friendship is a two-way street whose success depends on both individuals. Since this is a season for complaining I am also taking the liberty of making some of my own. Why did General Musharraf not have the courtesy to reply to the Note I sent after the second attempt on his life near Jhanda? The note contained only suggestions to improve his security arrangements and a response of a simple THANK YOU was all that it required.

COAS: On Page 79. "....I was third in seniority of Lieutenant Generals, though this happened because of some manipulation by the former Army Chief General Waheed Kakar to give advantage of first position to Ali Kuli ...."

Comments: This is another of General Musharraf's unending conspiracy theories! I wanted to ignore this remark because I know that the common reader is not interested in our career rivalries but I have chosen to respond briefly because General Musharraf has tried to malign a respected soldier who is unlikely to respond.

In his remarks General Musharraf is probably alluding to extensions of service granted to Officers during General Waheed's tenure as COAS. In order to understand the reasons why these extensions were given, it is necessary to keep in perspective the situation at the time of General Waheed's appointment. In January 1993, the late General Asif Nawaz died rather suddenly because of cardiac arrest when he had barely completed one out of his three years tenure. This sudden demise of the COAS understandably disturbed the seniority system in Pak Army. In order to reduce the impact of the unexpected death of his predecessor General Waheed was gracious enough to request two of his course mates (whom he had superceded) to continue serving; both of them agreed and served on. Similarly, a couple of other officers, in accordance with a well discussed and declared GHQ policy and approval of the Government, were given extensions of a year or so, so as to ensure that Defence Officers do not retire too young. Finally, during General Waheed's tenure, two Lieutenant Generals were retired prematurely, which had impacted the promotional structure.

How General Musharraf considers this as a manipulation to deny him the position of being the senior most Lt General at the time of selection of the COAS defies logic. If this allegation were true, then General Waheed from day one would have to know not only that his superceded course mates would agree to serve on but also that he had decided to prematurely retire two other Lieutenant Generals.

These are surely the workings of an obsessive mind. In fact, not only are they baseless and illogical but what is particularly galling is that they have been made against a noble person known for his honesty and integrity.

Coup: On pages 82 to 85 in this book there are extensive references to General Ali Kuli with the accusations that, in numerous conferences at GHQ, I was a self-serving hawk who because of my self-promotion wanted to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and continuously pushed for an Army takeover. The evidence for these allegations comes from four conferences in Pindi, in two of which the great Gen Musharraf was not even present, but my misdeeds were dutifully reported to him.

My comments on these allegations are very simple. These conferences were never held to discuss whether the Army should take over or not and as such the question of recommending it never arose. What I did say always was that the Army must maintain a firm and fair posture and I stand by this even today. Geeral Karamat's aversion (as indeed that of his predecessor) to an Army takeover was well-known and is supported by his actions.

But what is incongruous is the fact that a person who was such a strong supporter of democracy suddenly flipped when his own person was involved. Suddenly democracy became sham and we now have a messiah who will lead us to his version of promised true democracy in accordance with his own oft modified programme. It also suggests the presence of a private intelligence system which reported happenings at GHQ and makes one wonder whether such reporting went even higher?

Kargil: In Chapter 11 of this rather controversial book the author decides to step into the biggest minefield when he brazenly refers to the Kargil Operations as "considered purely, in military terms, the Kargil Operations were a landmark in the history of Pakistan Army". I am totally amazed at such ostrich-like behaviour when the whole world considers Kargil to be the worst debacle in Pakistan's history and where countless innocent young lives were lost for nothing. Absolutely nothing!

In this book, a totally futile debate is started by making allegations against the political leadership. Allegations can only be made against others when one's own work is above par and not when there are gaping holes in it. I regret to say that the conception and planning at the highest level had been poor; in fact so poor that the only word which can adequately describe it is unprofessional. We all know that the main duty of the high command is to ensure that with their meticulous planning they create conditions whereby their junior combatants can fight easy. This was certainly not done at Kargil.

It is also fairly obvious that the Kargil Operations were not conceived in its totality, with the result that apart from bringing ignominy to Pakistan it also caused unnecessary misery to a lot of innocent people. The account of General Musharraf regarding Kargil is inconsistent and has raised more questions than it has answered! We must have a full blown independent inquiry into the Kargil debacle.

In the end, I would like to state that I am not prone to any discourse which casts aspersions on others But, at the same time, I am not one who will present the other cheek! Unfortunately, in this sordid affair a stone was cast by someone and unless I responded, many who do not know us, would have taken it for the truth and hence the need of this rebuttal.

I served for 37 years in the Pakistan Army and retired in October 1998, as the Chief of General Staff (CGS). Interestingly enough, immediately prior to being the CGS, I had been Commander 10 Corps and Director General Military Intelligence and as such was privy to most events which have been discussed. I could say a great deal more on most of these subjects but, since it goes against the spirit of national security, the whole issue needs to be put to rest.

Source

 

[sparten]

Ali Kuli Khan was a highly distinguished officer. But some of the above assertions are palpably untrue. Musharraf was correct in saying that he deserved the CGS job, he had way more combat time than Ali, had commanded a strike Corps and been the Director General Military Ops,all more prestigious than what Genarl Khan had. Musharraf was not selected, since Karkar wanted a guy from FF and not a big hawk like Musharraf, who was from artillery and SSG.

 

[Skeptic786]

one charge which stands proved against musharaf...from his own word of mouth ( i.e. Book ) is that ;

* He had ingratiated himself with Mr.Sharif by keeping the latter informed of the criticism of the Government's functioning by Lt.Gen.Ali Kuli Khan and Lt.Gen. Khalid Nawaz at theCorps Commanders' conferences when Gen. Jehangir Karamat was the COAS.

 

[niaz]

Ali Kuli Khan was a highly distinguished officer. But some of the above assertions are palpably untrue. Musharraf was correct in saying that he deserved the CGS job, he had way more combat time than Ali, had commanded a strike Corps and been the Director General Military Ops,all more prestigious than what Genarl Khan had. Musharraf was not selected, since Karkar wanted a guy from FF and not a big hawk like Musharraf, who was from artillery and SSG.

Please dont forget that Lt Gen All Quli Khan was son of Lt Gen Habibullah Khan. No doubt Ali Quli was a very good cadet and capable officer. However having relations with the president ( Gohar Ayub, son of Pres Ayub Khan is married to Ali Quli's sister) and being son of a very distinguished general does help in selection for Sandhurst and plum jobs in the Army. Actually it says a lot for Musharraf that despite belonging to a family with no military links; he did as well as he did ( landing DGMO job, another plum appointment). Purpose my posting is not to show Gen Ali Quli in a bad light but to point out that selction to Sanhurst and landing plum jobs in the Army doesnot neccessarily mean that you are a better officer than your peers.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Please dont forget that Lt Gen All Quli Khan was son of Lt Gen Habibullah Khan. No doubt Ali Quli was a very good cadet and capable officer. However having relations with the president ( Gohar Ayub, son of Pres Ayub Khan is married to Ali Quli's sister) and being son of a very distinguished general does help in selection for Sandhurst and plum jobs in the Army. Actually it says a lot for Musharraf that despite belonging to a family with no military links; he did as well as he did ( landing DGMO job, another plum appointment). Purpose my posting is not to show Gen Ali Quli in a bad light but to point out that selction to Sanhurst and landing plum jobs in the Army doesnot neccessarily mean that you are a better officer than your peers.

Kuli khan was a much better officer than Mushy but the only reason why he was not made army chief was that he was Ayub khans son in law and secodly he was a relative of Saifullah's.

 

[sparten]

Well Lahori, it was your leader who made Mush chief. Go bother the Sharif clan.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Well Lahori, it was your leader who made Mush chief. Go bother the Sharif clan.

NS must be cursing the moment he took this horrible decision

 

[sparten]

I think he has been a bit too busy having a hair transplant to get dwell on that.