GOVT. SEEKS TO DISARM
PAKISTANIS
Govt. Seeks To Disarm
Pakistanis
By Kathy Gannon, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press, Thursday, March 2, 2000
Islamabad, Pakistan (AP) - It became a crime in Pakistan
on Thursday to publicly display weapons -- no small thing
in a country awash in arms, where a rocket launcher can
be bought in the open market.
And that's just the beginning, said Interior Minister
Moinuddin Haider, whose job it is to bring order to a
nation wracked by sectarian violence, ethnic killings and
assassinations.
''They will not like it,'' the retired army general said
of militant Islamic groups. ''They are used to flouting
government instructions.''
In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press,
Haider said he has no illusions of quick success. It is a
job, he said, that will have to be done one slow step at
a time.
But he says he has a vision for his country.
''Each day we will move in the right direction toward a
peaceful Pakistan,'' he said. ''We want to see a broad-
minded, balanced Pakistan with no weapons, with no
militancy, with no desire of terrorism. People who
believe in peace, that's the vision that I have.''
The first step was his order banning all weapons from the
streets. Carrying a weapon in public is considered a
birthright by some and a symbol of power by others. Now
it is a crime punishable by a prison term. Pakistan also
has stopped issuing licenses for new guns.
''We mean business,'' said Haider.
Enforcement of the new law will fall to police, but
Haider said he's ready to call in soldiers if necessary.
''Even if we have to use force, indulge in a firefight
with them, we will,'' he said.
Army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who threw out
Pakistan's elected government in October and imposed
military rule, has given Haider permission to use
soldiers.
Haider said Pakistan knows its international image is
tarnished by gun-wielding groups.
''We know what image of Pakistan we want. We want to see
Pakistan being a weapons-free state, a civilized state,''
he said.
But the problems are decades old and involve neighboring
countries.
To the west, Pakistan has war-battered Afghanistan as its
neighbor, where a civil war still rages. For Pakistan,
the legacy of Afghanistan's 1980s war against the Soviet
army is more than 1.5 million refugees still living in
Pakistan and a seemingly endless flow of weapons into the
country.
To the east of Pakistan is hostile neighbor India,
against whom Islamabad has fought three wars in 52 years
and is engaged in almost daily skirmishes along the
disputed border that divides Kashmir between the two
countries.
India accuses Pakistan of fomenting violence in Kashmir,
where a secessionist uprising has raged for more than 10
years. India says Pakistan is behind the Muslim militant
groups fighting there. Pakistan rejects the claim.
But the groups fighting in Kashmir have headquarters in
Pakistan.
Haider said unless they break Pakistani laws there is no
closing them down, despite urging from the United States,
which has declared at least one of the groups, Harakat-ul
Mujahedeen, a terrorist organization.
''We are not encouraging them. We are trying to curtail
them,'' he said. ''There is absolutely no state
sponsorship of them.''
However, until the Kashmir issue is settled, he said,
there will always be Muslims ready to fight in Indian
Kashmir ''because they are fighting against the
oppression against Muslims there.''
But at home in Pakistan, Haider said his own mission is
clear.
''We want to see that there are no killings in the name
of religion ... that it is a peaceful Pakistan,'' he
said. ''But we have 30 years of problems and they are not
solved overnight, but the desire is there.''
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