'Musharraf told Sharif to move out of Kargil'

Dispelling the general impression that it was Pakistan's civilian leadership that had sought Washington's help for arranging a respectable withdrawal from Kargil, former US Central Command chief General (retired) Anthony Zinni (1997 to 2000), says in his book Battle Ready that it was Musharraf who convinced Sharif to move the troops out.

Pakistan's civilian leadership was worried about a loss of face that the withdrawal could have caused and to allay their fears President Bill Clinton offered a plan that could have arranged a respectable withdrawal, Zinni says in his book published and released in the US this week.

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Zinni said that he was sent as Clinton's special representative to Islamabad to convince the Sharif administration to move out of Kargil.

"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his civilian colleagues appeared reluctant to endorse a withdrawal. That got Musharraf's attention, and he encouraged Prime Minister Sharif to hear me out," Zinni writes.

"Sharif was reluctant to withdraw before the meeting with Clinton was announced (again, his problem was maintaining face); but after I insisted, he finally came around and he ordered the withdrawal," he adds.

"He set up a meeting with Clinton in July," says Gen Zinni while explaining how Sharif arrived in Washington for the 1999 meeting with President Clinton that took place on the American Independence Day, July 4.

"In May, Pakistani forces made a deep incursion into an area called Kargil, on the Indian side of the Line of Control. Though there was normally fighting near the Line of Control, the area for a long time has been quite stable.