ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Monday that he hoped for a short military campaign against Osama bin Laden and his ruling Taliban allies. He also warned Afghanistan's opposition should not try to take advantage of the U.S. and British attacks to try to seize power.``I certainly think the operation is not over,'' he told a press conference in Islamabad. ``It will carry on. I only hope it will be short.''
Musharraf said the military campaign needs to target bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network, which the United States believes was behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks on Washington and New York City.
Asked about the discrepancy between President Bush's vision of a long campaign and his hopes for a short one, Musharraf said:
``In this environment the targeting is Osama bin Laden. ... If the targeting is correct and the results of the operation are achieved against those targets it can be finished in a day or two. Now I do not presume that the support within Afghanistan for the Taliban is of a degree that will lead to guerrilla warfare.''
Musharraf stressed that the U.S-British strikes were not on Afghan cities but on military facilities near the cities, saying the strikes were ``against terrorists, terrorism, their sanctuaries and their supporters.'' He said he had no assessment of damage caused by the bombings.
Musharraf suggested that a properly waged campaign could bring support for political change in Afghanistan.
But he insisted the Afghan opposition coalition battling the Taliban in the north should not be allowed to step in on its own and take power.
Pakistan has maintained close ties for years with the Taliban and is the only country that recognizes the Islamic militia as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
The Pakistani concerns came at a time when U.S. defense officials say one goal of the initial strike was to weaken the Taliban's military defenses so that rebel Afghans could advance in their effort to overthrow the Taliban.
In an offensive coordinated with the U.S.-British airstrikes Sunday, the opposition northern alliance launched a rocket launcher attack on Taliban forces controlling the mountains north of Kabul. The Taliban returned fire using Soviet-made BM-21 rockets, some exploding 200 yards from where foreign journalists were observing the attack.
The northern alliance, which has been battling the Taliban for years, hopes the U.S. strikes will help in its struggle against the Islamic militia. Russia and Iran are helping to supply the northern alliance with weapons.
Pakistan fears a loss of influence in a volatile neighboring country if the northern alliance takes power.
Musharraf said that once the military campaign is over, efforts must be undertaken to ensure ``the unity, the stability of Afghanistan and bring peace into Afghanistan.''
He said that any future government must be broad-based and multiethnic and not ``imposed on Afghanistan.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf holds his head as he speaks during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan Monday Oct. 8, 2001. Musharraf called on the Afghanistan opposition not to take advantage of the U.S. and British military attacks against Osama bin Laden and his allies the ruling Taliban. (AP Photo/Enric Marti)