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Sharief claims coup was pre-planned

Yahya Durrani in Karachi

Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief claimed in court on Wednesday that his differences with General Pervez Musharraf stemmed from the conflict with India over Kargil in mid-1999 and that his actions in attempting to dismiss the army chief were designed to pre-empt a coup.

Sharief was recording his statement in an Anti-Terrorist Court hearing a case of kidnapping, hijacking and attempted murder brought by the state against him and six others in reference to their alleged attempt to divert a commercial plane carrying General Musharraf and 197 other people back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka on October 12 last year. The plane did finally manage to land in Karachi with only a few minutes of fuel left, but only after the army toppled Sharief's government.

Yesterday was the first time Sharief was able to give his side of events that led to the army taking over the reins of the country. In his statement, Sharief claimed that Gen Musharraf had many grudges against him on many counts but that the real issue was last year's operation in Kargil which brought India and Pakistan on the brink of a fourth war. He also lashed out at the new chief executive, claiming that Gen Musharraf had "a lust for power."

After the Kargil episode, on which Sharief alleged Musharraf was still "playing hide and seek" with the Pakistani people, he received information that the army was planning to stage a coup against his government. It was only to prevent this possibility that he announced Musharraf's 'retirement' while the general was away attending a SAARC armed forces' chiefs meet. But other generals "loyal" to Musharraf went ahead with their coup to dismiss him.

Sharief's statement had been the subject of much legal and political drama over the last two weeks after the judge had ruled that it could be censored for publication in the case it divulged any matters impinging on "national security". The entire defence team of lawyers initially resigned in the wake of the ruling but, bar one, were persuaded by the accused to rejoin the case. Last week Sharief had expressed full faith in the court and the judge.

As it turned out, no portion of Sharief's statement on Wednesday was censored by the judge, with the former premier himself pointing out that he would submit the more sensitive details about the Kargil operation in chambers in the interests of national security.

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