By NNN-PTI
Washington : Despite intense international pressure, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has defended the imposition of emergency rule and refused to set a timeframe for lifting it.
“If I am a dictator, I don’t know that kind of dictator I am. I am the strongest believer in democracy. I brought democracy to Pakistan and I still believe in it,” Musharraf said in an interview to The Washington Post.
When asked about a timeframe for lifting the emergency, Musharraf bluntly said: “I don’t know”, but added he is “thinking about” that.
The comments came before his meet with the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
“We don’t want anyone in agitation mode, and I will tell Negroponte and the US that Pakistan comes first, and there are certain realities on the ground — extremism and terrorism — that made me decide to go with emergency law,” he told the daily.