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Rafsanjani blasts Pak policies

Ashok Tuteja in Dubai

Just a day after General Pervez Musharraf concluded what he described as a successful visit to Iran, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has strongly attacked Islamabad's policy on Afghanistan and said it would be a shame for the people of Pakistan to compare themselves with India and Bangladesh, which were democracies.

''Afghanistan is truly being oppressed, and the improper policy of Pakistan, which wants to solve the problems through war in Afghanistan, is doomed to fail. It is a policy that is the source of crimes in Afghanistan,'' Rafsanjani said at Friday prayers at Teheran University.

He said, ''Every day a lot of people are losing their lives (in Afghanistan) due to disease, hardships, genocide and destruction.'' Rafsanjani has been quoted as saying that Pakistan must return immediately to civilian rule, which ended on October 12 when General Musharraf overthrew the Nawaz Sharief government in a bloodless coup.

''It would be a shame for the people in Pakistan to compare themselves with India and Bangladesh where they have democracy,'' he said.

Rafsanjani, who served as president for two terms between 1989 and 1997, still influences Iranian politics as chairman of the expediency council, which serves as the consultation arm of Iran's supreme leader Ayotullah Ali Khamenei.

His comments came amid reports that he intended to run for parliament as an independent in the February elections.

He also criticised Islamabad for failing to bring the killers of Iranian citizens in Pakistan to justice. ''I hope that after the visit by General Musharraf, the significant problems that exist between us and Pakistan would be solved,'' he added.

General Musharraf, during his two-day visit to Iran, held talks with Ayotullah Khamenei and Iranian President Mohammed Khatami. No meetings were held between the Pakistani military ruler and Rafsanjani.

UNI

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