Musharraf sought covert US role to bring him back to power

ISLAMABAD: A sensational undated video clip of former Pakistan Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has emerged on social media asking a small group of Americans to bring him back to power through covert means so that the United States is protected from “terrorism and radical Islam”.

The 29-seconds-long footage recorded apparently with a mobile phone camera shows Musharraf sipping a drink from a disposable plastic cup while listening to a question by a member of the gathering. The questioner asked the former Pakistani president and military dictator, “what do we have to change so that our money is used in a positive way to protect Americans from terrorism, from radical Islam [and] from Al-Qaeda. What’s gonna do that for us.”  

Musharraf in his prompt and to the point reply said: “All I’m saying is, I have certain credentials from the past. I need to come [to power] again and I need to be supported not overtly but in a covert manner so that we win again.”  

Jack Rosen, an American lobbyist and Chairman of the powerful American Jewish Congress, purportedly organized the gathering. The clip shows that Dr Nasim Ashraf, the former chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board and head of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) also accompanied the former president.  

A Wikipedia entry for Mr Rosen says he has advocated for Jewish and Israeli causes stating. “We are living in a post-Holocaust era and the forces that provided for a safe and secure Israel are changing. We have to look at what the future holds and have to use all the skills we’ve learned in America and that are available to us to ensure security for Jews around the world”, says the internet information portal.  

Apart from being a lobbyist, the 69-year-old CEO of Rosen Partners, Jack Rosen is a board member of Altimo – a British Virgin Island (BVI) company that is the telecom investment arm of Russia’s Alfa Group consortium. It has investment interests in Russia, Central Asia, Middle East and Bangladesh.  

The clip has generated interesting chatter on Twitter. Murtaza Solangi, a seasoned journalist and commentators tweeted; “All well. No threat to national security. Only civilians are traitors.” Faisee, another twitterati wrote: “Musharraf begging #JackRosen …. the same guy who, in his article in Jerusalem Post, believed “A Pakistan without Musharraf could be a much more dangerous place.”  

The clip was also shared by other Twitter activists and is being liked and forwarded by thousands of users of the online news and social networking service.

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Editor's note: The video clip of Pervez Musharraf talking to a group of Americans in the news item is in fact from the documentary ‘Insha’Allah Democracy’ directed by Mohammed Naqvi which will be shown shortly on BBC TV.