Islamabad: Faced with mounting criticism from his detractors for "toeing" the American line and "acting" against Muslim interests, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on August 30 said he had the "correct perception" of Islam and wanted to introduce "sustainable Democracy" in his country.

The Pakistani military ruler, dubbed as the main architect of the Kargil intrusions, also claimed one of his "weaknesses" was that he did not understand "intrigue".

"We are all religious. But, then having a correct perception of religion is a question. There are people whose views about religion are very archaic and very backward. There is a lack of understanding, lack of education. Those who are in the educated class, they have a very correct perception of Islam and the religion. I belong to that category," he told BBC world.

The Pakistan President has been drawing flak from hardliners for supporting US military action against Taleban in Afghanistan and offering to send Pakistani troops to Iraq to "fight Muslim brothers".

Debunking criticism about absence of Democracy in Pakistan, he shot back, "Where was real democracy? Was there freedom of speech? Was there freedom of Press? Was the judiciary independent?"

"What kind of Democracy were we running? There was no Democracy in Pakistan. We want to introduce sustainable Democracy. It should continue. No government has served its full term in Pakistan," he said.

PTI