Are even guards not trusted enough?

Daily Times, August 7, 2006
The general armed to shoot, always

LAHORE: President General Pervez Musharraf wears a gun on his hip everywhere for security reasons, the Telegraph reported on Saturday.

The president was in Chitral Valley in the Northern Areas last month to watch a game of polo. As the rough and tough match typical to the region was played on Shandoor Plateau, at an altitude of 3,734 metres, the president’s gun was visible above his right hip.

Later, he told a gathering of senior officials and close associates that he always carries it with him.

Musharraf, 63, is said to have started carrying one around after December 25, 2003, when he survived a second suicide attack in two weeks by radical militants upset with Pakistan for joining the US war on terror, the Telegraph reported. Elaborate security arrangements usually precede the president’s visits and he also uses decoys — cars and helicopters — just as many heads of state do.

But few carry a gun. George W Bush certainly doesn’t, though some might say the Texan’s mouth is enough to kill of shock. Fidel Castro used to, but he was then a guerrilla leader fighting General Fulgencio Batista. He does wear military fatigues, but a gun hasn’t been seen peeping through it yet.

On the contrary, Musharraf’s gun was conspicuous again when, wearing the traditional Chitrali cap, he joined the Chitralis as they danced to local tunes on the playground. Part of the dancing party, he looked a different man — a president among his people and not the commando he has been most of his life. But the gun gave the general away. That, and the thoughtfully chosen gift. Musharraf presented Amir Muqam, the federal minister for water and power, with a gun, which he said was similar to the one he carried.

“These guns are the same but the only difference is that mine is laser-guided,” the Telegraph quoted Musharraf as telling the gathering while handing it over to Muqam. “Amir Muqam is my brother and that is why he also faces the same threats as I do.”

Laser-guided weapons find the target on their own — “fire and forget, the gun does the rest”.

Musharraf’s gun is a Glock 17. The US has provided personal security devices for him, including the “remote signal jammers” in his cars that saved his life in the December 2003 attack that killed 17.

His aircraft is equipped with state-of-the art US surveillance and security technology, a personal gift from Bush.

Within weeks, Musharraf’s autobiography, being published by Simon and Schuster, UK, will be on shop-shelves and reveal more about the man, possibly even the place of guns in his life.