A civil war may break out in Pakistan if the military-backed government doesn't take steps to quell disturbances in tribal areas, the former Director General of ISI Hamid Gul has warned.
In an interview with Afghanistan's Tolo TV, Lt General (retd) Gul said Pakistan's decision to help the US in its global war on terror by targeting remnants of the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban appeared to be coming unstuck.
Pointing out factors responsible for this, Gul said it might be due to the differences of opinion within the Pakistani defence establishment or a growing disenchantment with Islamic fundamentalists, regional differences between the country's four provinces.
Though none of these factors could pose the threat of dissolution of Pakistan, Gul feared that the simultaneous occurring of these multiple crises posed a real threat to the country in the short as well as long term.
Gul stated that President Musharraf was fully aware that the issue of a war against the Al- Qaeda and the Taliban in the tribal areas could precipitate a civil war.
Musharraf also has not ruled out the possibility of the federal administration pre-poning general elections to 2006, instead of 2007 as already announced.
{{/usCountry}}Musharraf also has not ruled out the possibility of the federal administration pre-poning general elections to 2006, instead of 2007 as already announced.
{{/usCountry}}"There is a possibility of elections taking place in 2006. Musharaf knows that there is the likelihood of civil war in Pakistan over the issue of war against Al-Qaeda and Taliban in tribal areas," Lt General Gul said.
Gul also described the recent visit of US President George W Bush as a failure from Pakistan's point of view.