'Musharraf and Pakistan can't go together'

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Islamabad, April 4:: Calling President Pervez Musharraf a 'cashable product', Pakistan's new Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has said the government is ready to work with him and use his standing in the world community to secure aid for the country.

The remarks of Mukhtar, a senior leader of PPP which is heading the ruling coalition, sparked an angry reaction from former Premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N, a key component of the government, which has been demanding resignation of Musharraf.

Mukhtar, also a leading industrialist, noted that slain ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto had described Musharraf as a "salable commodity" in efforts to seek global aid for Pakistan.

The PPP considers Musharraf as a 'cashable product' and the new government would "like to test his worth in pleading Pakistan's case to seek economic support", Mukhtar said in an interview on Thursday with 'Aaj TV 'channel.

The government, he said, is ready to work with Musharraf as he has a broader vision and good ties with other countries. Working with Musharraf will be in the better interest of Pakistan and the government could secure international aid and support if it followed policies laid down by the President, he said.

Reacting to Mukhtar's comments, PML-N leader and Youth Affairs and Culture Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said that "Mukhtar's views on President Musharraf (were made) in his personal capacity (but) we are totally convinced that Musharraf and Pakistan can't go together."

The government's media managers reportedly contacted several newspapers and agencies to ask them not to carry Mukhtar's comments though they appeared in several newspapers on Friday.

Sharif, who was deposed from the post of prime minister by Musharraf in 1999, is vehemently opposed to the former military ruler and has repeatedly asked him to accept the people's mandate and step down as President.

PML-N leaders wore black armbands when they were being sworn in as ministers by Musharraf on Monday, delaying the ceremony by nearly an hour.

Despite the pressure from the PML-N, the PPP has been proceeding cautiously on the issue of its ties with Musharraf. National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza has said that

Parliamentarians, if they want, may impeach the President by a two-thirds majority. It appears unlikely that Musharraf will be impeached in the near future as the ruling coalition does not have a two-thirds majority in the Senate, upper house of Parliament.