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‘Pakistani forces, tribesmen will expel foreign troops if attacked’

* NWFP governor says incursion into tribal belt will spark ‘disastrous consequences’ for world

PESHAWAR: White House hopeful Barack Obama’s threats of US military action against extremist sanctuaries in Pakistan are undermining the new government, however not only would Pakistan defend its sovereignty, but that thousands of ethnic Pashtun tribesmen along the border would rise up to expel any foreign troops, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani said on Sunday.

“These are fighters, let me tell you,” the governor said. “Superpowers have underestimated them – the British, the Soviets – and I hope nobody makes the same mistake again.”

Ghani said any incursion into the country’s mountainous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan would spark disastrous consequences for the whole world.

A spate of US missile strikes in Pakistan on Taliban hideouts in the Tribal Areas had also inflamed public sentiment against Islamabad’s role in war on terror, said Ghani, who oversees anti-militancy policies in the NWFP. “I think they are being shortsighted,” said Ghani – former governor of Balochistan – referring to Obama and other US officials.

“What the allies and the world must understand is that no government can remain involved in this global war on terrorism unless the majority of public sentiment backs it,” he said. “These strikes, and even statements, are undermining that,” the governor added. afp

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