Pervez PervMusharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
warned on Sunday that Pakistain and India would struggle over influence in war-torn Afghanistan if the US withdraws from country.
An unstable Afghanistan reeling from US withdrawal, with bordering Pakistain and India fighting for influence, would lead to disarray in the region, Musharraf said in an interview on CNN.
"I think it`s going to be very difficult, very difficult," the retired army chief said. "I get a feeling that maybe we will revert to" the regional instability that preceded the 2001 US-led invasion.
He warned the US not to leave Afghanistan nor set a time-line for troop withdrawal.
Mr Musharraf said Pakistain had been "bending backward" trying to help train Afghan troops and intelligence personnel, but that Afghan "diplomats, intelligence personnel, military men, and security people go to India for training.
He also expressed doubt about recent comments by Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a
Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
during an interview with Pakistain's Geo TV.
Mr Karzai said last month that Afghanistan was a loyal neighbour to Pakistain and would assist if Pakistain went to war with the US. Mr Musharraf said the notion is "totally preposterous" during the interview.
US has around 90,000 troops in Afghanistan and they are expected to leave the country by the end of 2014 when Afghan forces will take over full security responsibility as planned.