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Musharraf hails al Qaeda arrest
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The capture of al Qaeda planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed should silence those who say Pakistan is not doing enough in the global war against terrorism, the country's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, told CNN Thursday. Musharraf, who had previously said he was certain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was dead, raised the possibility in his interview with CNN's Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi that the terrorist mastermind may be alive. Bin Laden, the president said, "is a different personality" from Mohammed, who was captured Saturday at a private home in an Islamabad suburb. "He would be hiding alone, in another room," Musharraf said. "He would be moving large bodyguards, therefore he would need sanctuary, need a bigger area, a safe area, therefore I don't think he can be in the cities." But catching Mohammed and Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi, believed to be the operational financier of the September 11 terror plot, was "further confirmation Pakistan is acting against terrorism," Musharraf said. "It is not a vindication of anything. It is a proof, confirmation of what we have been doing," he said. "I think we apprehended more than 480 people. This is further confirmation Pakistan is acting against terrorism." "Nobody has apprehended so many," Musharraf continued. It goes to credit our intelligence organization. The success their actions and must be given credit." Musharraf said he was confident any views that Pakistan was "dragging its feet" or "going slow" were from the media, "not in official circles of the United States or anywhere in the world." The Pakistani leader would not comment on his country's stance on the Iraq crisis, saying only that Pakistan would "maintain our national interests." "We are looking forward to the Blix report (Friday)," he said. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is to update the Security Council on the inspection process. Musharraf acknowledged the split among members of the United Nations -- and among members of the smaller Security Council and Muslim nations as well. "These are various pulls in various directions," he said, "and I think it is a tough time that one is going through and one has to deliberate a lot and take decisions in Pakistani interests." "We don't want to get involved at all militarily," he said. "We have our own problems here in the region. I think we have our hands full." Musharraf said a U.S.-led war on Iraq would almost certainly "have a fallout" in his country. "It is being seen as if the Islamic world was being targeted," he said. "People may come out to the streets, but one has to see to what extent, what magnitude is this problem."
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