Musharraf: Net-savvy

Islamabad, Feb. 24 (Reuters): Only war with India in 1965 saved Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf from being court-martialled.

This story of an early brush with authority is how Musharraf opens an account of his personal and professional life in a letter posted on an official website opened today.

?As a young second lieutenant, court martial proceedings were initiated against me for another disciplinary infringement. War with India broke out just in time to block the proceedings.

?My subsequent war performance and a gallantry award finally saved me from the court martial,? wrote Musharraf, who went on to become army chief before taking power in a bloodless 1999 coup.

Musharraf doesn?t say what his crime had been, but a recent article in the Pakistani magazine, Blue Chip, said he was absent without leave.

Having survived two assassination attempts by Islamic radicals in December 2003, Musharraf?s interaction with ordinary Pakistanis has been much curtailed in the past year. Instead, they can now send the general an email through the website, www.presidentofpakistan. gov.pk.

Musharraf said he was lucky to escape certain death thrice ? other than during war ? before becoming army chief, a promotion he regarded as merited if close to a miracle. He survived three more assassination attempts as President. ?This makes for some kind of a record for the Guinness Book of (World) Records. I call myself ?lucky?.?

Musharraf also recounted his peace efforts with India, while refraining from going into details of the Kargil operation in 1999. He blamed the failure of a subsequent summit with then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001 on the ?negative influence of some radical Indian government functionaries, in particular Mr (L.K.) Advani?.

Bus bristle

Musharraf said Pakistan is still waiting for India to show flexibility in solving the Kashmir dispute, despite last week?s agreement on the bus service.

Musharraf bristled when asked if India was fobbing off Pakistan with a small concession instead of engaging fully on the core issue. ?As far as the bus service is concerned, it is not a substitute ... Why do you people call it a substitute? It is a stepping stone towards normalisation,? he said.