US wanted safe exit for Musharraf: US envoy

September 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has refuted claims made by President Asif Ali Zardari that Musharraf quit the government as part of a secret deal facilitated by international and local' guarantors. "I neither quit the government nor left the country on any deal," The Daily Times quoted Musharraf, as saying.

September 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former president Pervez Musharraf has said he will return to Pakistan under pleasant conditions. He added that he will not retaliate against those who are demanding to try him under Article 6 of the Pakistan Constitution.

September 21st, 2009 PHILADELPHIA - Former President Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan would never allow foreign troops on its territory. Addressing a Pakistani doctors organization in Philadelphia, Musharraf said that Pakistan's defence is strong and no force can challenge the sovereignty of the country.

September 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States, for the first time, has disclosed that it wanted a 'safe exit' for the former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf after he stepped down from the Presidency. In an interview with an American news paper, US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson said Washington wanted a 'dignified' retirement for Musharraf.

September 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has rejected reports of a deal being inked to allow a safe passage to former President General Pervez Musharraf after he stepped down last year. Kaira said Musharraf was ousted from the Presidency under political pressure from parliament.

September 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied inking any 'safe exit' deal to facilitate former President General Pervez Musharraf's safe passage from the country after he stepped down from the Presidency. In an interview to a private television channel, Gilani said: "If there had been such a deal, it would have surfaced by now, as the media is very vibrant today." Gilani also said would be wrong to say that Musharraf has been 'pardoned', as neither he has been convicted by the court of law nor been 'indemnified by parliament'.

September 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again said that prosecuting former President General Pervez Musharraf under high treason charges was not feasible as such a step could have repercussions on several other people also. Gilani said that Article Six of the Constitution could not be applied to Musharraf alone as there were several leaders who had backed the former general's November 3,2007 actions.

September 17th, 2009 LONDON - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has accused the United States and Britain of playing a part in the secret negotiations for allowing a 'safe exit' to former President General Pervez Musharraf in 2008 PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, while moving a privilege motion against President Asif Ali Zardari in the National Assembly, asked Zardari to disclose the full terms and the role played by Britain, the US and other countries in the covert deal which allowed Musharraf allay high treason charges against him. "The British and the Americans have no right to dictate terms on our internal affairs.

September 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has said that former President General Pervez Musharraf's ouster from the Presidency was a result of negotiations involving some 'friendly countries' and it was wrong to term it as a 'deal'. Malik said the negotiations were in the larger interest of the country and democracy.

September 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has demanded President Asif Ali Zardari to make public the documents regarding the secret deal with his predecessor General Pervez Musharraf, allowing him a safe exit from the country. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the PML-N would move motions in the Senate and the NA against Zardari for making a covert deal with Musharraf.

September 16th, 2009 LAHORE - In a bid to protect President Asif Ali Zardari from the political backlash over his statement that he was part of a deal allowing a safe exit to former President General Pervez Musharraf, PPP Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab has said it was her party which made the former general doff his military uniform. Wahab said the PPP was not involved in any secret deal with Musharraf, saying the party does not believe in 'politics of deals'.

September 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - With President Asif Ali Zardari disclosing that his predecessor General Pervez Musharraf was given a 'safe exit' from the country, it appears, Musharraf may have avoided a high treason trial for his unconstitutional actions, but according to an editorial there is hardly any possibility of the former general returning to Pakistan in the near future. The editorial in The Daily Times said Musharraf may be safe for the time being, but he would hardly be seen playing golf in Pakistan for years to come.

September 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-N has moved a privilege motion in the National Assembly (NA) against the statement of President Asif Ali Zardari on giving the safe passage to the former president Pervez Musharraf. The motion signed by 91 MNAs has been brought by Hanif Abbasi, Dr.

August 24th, 2009 LAHORE - The US and UK governments were key players in facilitating the escape of former President Pervez Musharraf, whereas the Pakistan People's Party and the PML-N are consistently deceiving the nation by not acting to apprehend the national offender, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Punjab Waseem Akhtar has said. He said the PPP Government's attitude clearly gave the idea that they wanted to suppress the accountability of Musharraf for his hideous constitutional crimes.

June 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has held former President General Pervez Musharraf responsible for the Swat crisis. In its report, the HRCP blamed Musharraf for following a policy of appeasement with extremists in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) despite knowing they were expanding their writ in the region.