voice of the world 9GOA, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

PTI, DUBAI: Pakistan'sformer military dictatorGen (retd.) PervezMusharraf has termed talkof any nuclear war withIndia as rubbish, saying ifPakistan would attackIndia with one atomicbomb, then New Delhicould "finish us by attack-ing with 20 bombs".

"It is not so simple. Donot talk like this. There isalways a military strategy,"Musharraf, who is on self-exile in Dubai, said in re-sponse to a question at anews conference in Dubaion Friday evening.

His statement came

amid heightened tensionbetween the two nuclear-armed countries after theFebruary 14 suicide at-tack by Pakistan-basedJaish-e-Mohammad thatkilled at least 40 CRPFsoldiers in Jammu andKashmir's Pulwama dis-trict.

Musharraf, who ruledPakistan from 1999 to2008, termed talk of anynuclear war as rubbish,Dawn newspaper re-ported.

"If Pakistan would at-

tack India with one atomicbomb, then the neigh-bouring country could fin-ish us by attacking with 20bombs," he was quoted assaying by the paper.

"The only solution isthat we should first attackthem with 50 atom bombsso that they cannot hit uswith 20 bombs. Are youready to first launch an at-tack with 50 bombs?" heasked.

Musharraf, who was thearmy chief of Pakistanduring the Kargil War in

1999, said India had ad-vantage in some areas inKashmir and it couldlaunch a surgical strike,but Pakistan also had ad-vantage in many otherareas. He suggested toPakistan Army to keep aplan prepared before timeto deal with any possibleIndian move, the papersaid.

The former general hasbeen declared a fugitive inthe Benazir Bhutto assas-sination case and the RedMosque cleric killing case.He is facing several casesincluding a treason casefor suspending the Consti-tution in 2007. He left forthe UAE in 2016 for med-ical treatment and has notreturned since.

If Pak attacks, India couldfinish us: Musharraf

INDO-PAKTENSION

If Pakistan would attack India with oneatomic bomb, then the neighbouring

country could finish us by attacking with 20bombs– Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's former MilitaryDictator Gen (retd)

PTI, LONDON: BritishPrime Minister TheresaMay has come under in-creasing pressure to delaythe March 29 deadline forBritain's exit from the Eu-ropean Union as theprospect of a withdrawalagreement being passedby the UK Parliament con-tinues to hang in the bal-ance.

From an Arab-EU sum-mit in Egypt on Monday,prime minister May in-sisted the UK was oncourse to acquire thelegally binding assur-ances that the House ofCommons needs in rela-tion to the controversialIrish backstop clause topass such a deal.

However, she soughtmore time to put it to aso-called "meaningfulvote" in Parliament,

which will now take placeon March 12 instead ofthis week as previouslyannounced.

"There is still morework to do, and my teamwill be in Brussels tomor-row (Tuesday) workingon the legally binding as-surances that the UK Par-liament needs in relationto the backstop," she saidin a statement from theEgyptian resort town ofSharm el-Sheikh.

"But what I have sensedin all of my conversationswith my fellow leaders,

both here in Sharm el-Sheikh and in recent days,there is a real determina-tion to find a way throughwhich allows the UK toleave the EU in a smoothand orderly way with adeal," she said.

But with another delayof the vote to next week,just 17 days before theMarch 29 deadline, MPsfrom within her own Con-servative Party are begin-ning to speak out infavour of postponing thetimeline at least by a fewmonths.

Pressure mounts on Mayto delay Brexit deadline

But with another delay of the vote tonext week, just 17 days before the

March 29 deadline, MPs from withinher own Conservative Party are

beginning to speak out in favour ofpostponing the timeline at least by a

few months

AFP, DHAKA: A would-behijacker shot and killed byBangladesh commandoswas carrying a fake gunand told negotiators hewanted to commandeer aDubai-bound flight be-cause he had troubles withhis wife, officials said Mon-day.

The 25-year-old wasshot and later died of hiswounds after taking a crewmember hostage on theBiman Airlines jet, forcingit to make an emergencylanding at Chittagong air-port late Sunday.

Some 134 passengersand 14 crew were releasedunharmed after an opera-tion that lasted barely 10minutes.

Airport manager WingCommander Sarwar-e-Jaman said the hijackerwas "psychologically im-balanced".

"The reason he gave for

Would-be Bangla hijacker wascarrying fake gun: official

the hijack was that hehad troubles with hiswife and he wanted totalk to the prime minis-ter, Sheikh Hasina," Sar-war told AFP.

Flight BG 147 wasgoing from Dhaka toDubai via Chittagongwhen the hijackingstarted.

The man reportedly

wielded a gun in thecabin and tried to stormthe cockpit, forcing anemergency landing.

One passenger told re-porters he may havefired the weapon twice,but civil aviation author-ity chairman Air ViceMarshall Nayeem Hasansaid the gun he was car-rying was not real.

AFP, JOHANNESBURG: Amosque in Durban was setablaze on Monday, in thelatest assault on an Islamicbuilding in South Africa, aMuslim leader told AFP.

Images of the charredmosque, located in thesuburb of Effingham,showed forensics officerson site and communitymembers inspecting thedamage.

"The attack happened inthe early hours of themorning at around 1:30a.m. (2330 GMT)," Islamicelder Mohammed Tariqtold AFP, adding that no-one was injured because ofthe early hour.

"The mosque itself hasbeen burnt extremelybadly and emergency per-

sonnel have been on thescene. A case of arson hasbeen opened," he said.

Police could not bereached for comment.

The attack comes amidtensions between Muslimfactions in South Africa, acountry that prides itselfon its religious tolerance.

In a separate case, 11men are on trial for al-legedly attacking ImamHussain Mosque in the citylast May and planting ex-plosive devices in andaround Durban malls.

They allegedly stabbedworshippers at themosque near Durban. Po-lice said the attackers' mo-tive was unknown but"elements of extremism"were involved.

‘Arson’ attack hitsS Africa mosque

Guaido rampsup pressure

after Venezuelaborder clashes

AFP, CUCUTA: Interna-tional pressure mountedagainst Venezuela's leaderNicolas Maduro on Sunday,with Washington insistinghis "days are numbered"after opposition efforts tobring humanitarian aidinto the country descendedinto bloody chaos. Self-de-clared interim presidentJuan Guaido called on theinternational communityto consider "all measuresto free" Venezuela afterclashes at border crossingsleft four people dead sinceFriday.

The EU on Sunday con-demned Maduro's govern-ment for its use of violenceand armed civilian groupsto block the entry of aid.

UN Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres said hewas "shocked and sad-dened" by the civiliandeaths.

Sharif sentback to jail

PTI, LAHORE: Pak-istan's deposedprime ministerNawaz Sharif wassent back to jail onMonday after his 10-day stay in JinnahHospital Lahore inconnection with histreatment.

Sharif, who is serv-ing a seven-year im-prisonment in theAl-Azizia Steel Millscorruption case, wasshifted to hospital onFebruary 15 from KotLakhpat jail for car-diac treatment.

According to a Pun-jab government offi-cial, the three-timeprime minister askedthe doctors to shifthim back to jail afterhis bail petition onmedical grounds wasrejected.

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