Nawaz says he is no extremist

WASHINGTON—Condemning all forms of terrorism, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that we are moderates, we follow moderation and nothing except moderation.
Talking to a foreign News Agency, the former Prime Minster while expressing his disappointment over the remarks by some other countries, the former Prime Minster said that these remarks are made without taking (into consideration) our cooperation that we have extended in the past. To me this is unreasonable and I am disappointed, he added.
Let me be clear I have been condemning all sorts of terrorism, whether in Pakistan or outside Pakistan, added by former Prime Minister. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said that we don’t want to boycott the elections, adding that if there is free and fair elections we can win. But there is no point in Musharraf taking off his uniform, or lifting emergency rule unless the judiciary is reinstated with dignity and honor,’’ Sharif said.
Former Prime Minster and Quaid Pakistan Muslim League-N, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that he has started contact with all the political parties to save the country from devastation. Addressing a mammoth public gatherings here on Sunday, the former Prime Minister said that the country is gradually moving towards devastation and would try to persuade Benazir not to participate in the upcoming general elections.
Criticising the Government of Pervez Musharraf, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan at present is facing a critical situation of its history, adding that there is no rule of law in the country. PML-N Quaid observed that Pervez Musharraf had imposed the state of emergency owing to fear of the decision regarding uniform against him (Musharraf) by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the judges have been detained first time under the cover of the emergency.
The former Prime Minister said that he lived for nearly seven years in exile but did not support the rulers, adding that the future of the country now dependent on the people of Pakistan. Expressing his views about skyrocketing prices of commodities, Mian Nawaz Sharif said that in my tenure, the prices of sugar was Rs. 16 per kg which is at present is being sold at Rs. 30 while atta is being sold at Rs. 20 as compare to Rs. 6 in my tenure.
Earlier, the former Prime Minister when arrived Manga Mandi he was received by a large number of people. Mian Nawaz Sharif went to Lambay Jagir where he expressed condolence over the death of mother of Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan. The former Prime Minister when arrived on the place of public gathering awarded a warm welcome by the people. Former President Raffique Tarar accompanied the former Prime Minister.
Soon after he returned from eight years in exile, Nawaz Sharif reminded his followers that he was the prime minister who made Pakistan a nuclear power.
That popular move among Pakistanis, together with Sharif’s reputation for fostering close ties with Islamic militants, raised the specter in a jittery West of a nuclear-armed Pakistan with religious ideologues at the helm.
But former U.S. officials who know Sharif and analysts who follow Pakistan’s politics portray a savvy politician who is far from the religious extremist he’s sometimes made out to be. And Sharif himself says he shuns extremism.—Agencies