Islamabad:
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan believes Pakistan should pull out of the US-led war against the Taliban "to save itself" and tell Washington that it won't use arms any longer against them.
Khan said the Taliban and terrorism are not the "same thing" and that it would be a "lie" to call all Taliban "terrorists".
"Most Americans believe Taliban and terrorism is the same thing. They're not terrorists, they were religious fundamentalists... So it's an unenlightened version of all religions when you have fundamentalism but you can't call them terrorists, it's just a lie," Khan, who heads the Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, told the Star newspaper.
Khan, who has been criticised for his purported links with the Taliban, believes that Pakistan should tell the US it will opt for dialogue with the Taliban and not "use arms anymore" against them.
This should be done by Pakistan "to save itself," he said.
"We are pulling out of this insanity, and then Pakistan can play a big role in dialogue with Afghanistan
Taliban," he claimed.
Khan said his decision to boycott the 2008 general election was "right" and that people should "watch" him as a future political leader.
He said the current Pakistan People's Party-led government was the "most shameful piece of government in the name of democracy".
"(President) Asif Zardari is considered an American puppet, so the hatred against Zardari also translates into hatred for the US," he contended.
Reminded that he was a "one-man-show" without any real prospects for his party, Khan said: "We will sweep the next election. Mark my words right now... People trust me. They don't trust anyone else in politics".
He said his detractors say he is "part of the Taliban" and call him "Taliban Khan".
He added: "Then they say I'm part of a Jewish conspiracy to take over Pakistan because of my ex-wife (Jemima Goldsmith). But I believe in what Abraham Lincoln says, 'You can't fool all the people all the time,' and after a while people see through all of this".
Khan said that opposing the policies of the US does not make anyone anti-American. Khan saw Pakistan's future as bleak. "We are on the brink now. We are completely destabilised, we're basically just surviving on American dollars but the country is bankrupt and this war has done it".