Sharif's approval for border action claimed

Islamabad - The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, approved army patrols into Indian Kashmir during the two-month conflict…

Islamabad - The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, approved army patrols into Indian Kashmir during the two-month conflict in the region, the army's chief said in an interview broadcast yesterday.

Mr Sharif was kept fully informed of the Pakistan army's tactics at the disputed Line of Control, Kashmir's de facto border, from the start of the military campaign, Gen Pervez Musharaff told the BBC.

Pakistan had previously denied its troops had crossed into Indian Kashmir.

Gen Musharaff also claimed there had been a disinformation campaign, by parties which he did not identify, to create a rift between the military and the government.

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However, the Pakistan military spokesman Brigadier Rashid Qureshi, who said he was in the northern town of Skardu when Gen Musharraf talked to the BBC, later denied the general's claim.