Musharraf warns against UK withdrawal from Iraq

Disagreeing with the United Kingdom army chief's suggestion that British troops be withdrawn from Iraq as their presence worsened security problems, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said premature withdrawal of coalition troops would have adverse impact on the region.

"I do not agree at all," he said last night while commenting on British army chief General Richard Dannat's views.

Musharraf was speaking at the release of the Urdu translation of his autobiography, In the Line of Fire at a function in Islamabad. The Urdu version of the book is titled Subse Pehla Pakistan (Pakistan First).

"Troops withdrawal (from Iraq) will have far-reaching and negative impact on the region and on the world," he said calling for a careful analysis of implications of such a move.

Dannatt had recently said, "I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq, but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them.

"I think history will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful war fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning," he said.