Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf Says 'West Faces Another 9/11 if Taliban Not Recognised', Then Retracts

Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf has asked the British newspaper The Sunday Times to clarify and retract an interview he gave to journalist Christina Lamb in which he allegedly warned the West that if it does not “immediately recognise” the Taliban, it will face a second 9/11. Lamb has refuted Yusuf’s claim of “mischaracterisation,” claiming that the interview was taped.

According to a statement issued by Yusuf’s office on Sunday, the 28 August interview, titled “Work with the Taliban or Repeat the Horror of the 1990s, West Told,” is a “gross mischaracterization” of the interaction between Yusuf and Lamb, the Print said in a report.

The Pakistan High Commission in the UK has issued the publication a formal demand for the story to be retracted and corrected, according to the statement.

Lamb is The Sunday Times’ chief international correspondent and an award-winning journalist.

In the Times interview, Yusuf is quoted as saying: “Mark my words…If the mistakes of the Nineties are made again and Afghanistan abandoned, the outcome will be absolutely the same — a security vacuum filled by undesirable elements who will threaten everyone, Pakistan and the West.”

In his comment, Yusuf voiced his dissatisfaction with the article’s sub-title, which reads, “Risk a second 9/11 if you don’t recognise Afghanistan’s new leaders, Pakistan’s national security adviser warns.” The statement continues, “This connotation was created and completely incorrectly attributed to the National Security Adviser.”

Meanwhile, even though Yusuf denied making the controversial remark, the Pakistan National Security Agency appeared to make a similar statement in an interview with British station Sky News Sunday.

The Sky News interview, titled “ “The West could face another 9/11 and mass refugee crisis if it abandons country, says Pakistan security adviser”, quoted him as saying:  “Migrants will flow, terrorism will flow and none of us want that so let’s not make that mistake again”.

“The dangers of abandonment, which came about in the 1990s, there was a breakdown of law and order, there was a breakdown of security, there were international terrorists who took root, there was an economic crisis, there was a governance problem and at the end of the day there was 9/11,” he added.

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