Pakistani PM rules out US action inside borders

UNITED STATES: Pakistan's prime minister said on Sunday his government would not allow the United States to launch military strikes against terrorist targets on Pakistani soil.

Asked if Pakistan was permitting the US military to carry out attacks with unmanned aircraft against Al-Qaeda, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told CNN television: "No, we have always said that we are very capable of tackling such activities ourselves."

While Pakistan was dedicated to combating terrorist threats, Aziz said his government would not permit unilateral action within its borders.

"Our armed forces are well-equipped. We do not allow any country to violate our sovereignty. We are committed to fighting terrorism, but it has to be fought together," he said in an interview with CNN's "Late Edition."

"And if we go into each other's countries and take unilateral action, that does not help the cause of fighting terrorism or building relations, and respecting each others integrity and sovereignty." In September, US President George W. Bush said in an interview he would "take the action necessary" to hunt down bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda figures, even if it meant carrying out operations inside Pakistan's borders.

In January, an unmanned US Predator drone reportedly fired missiles into a Pakistani village in a bid to kill Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri, but the attempt failed and claimed civilian lives. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has alleged the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is in hiding in Pakistan. But Aziz said there was no proof to back up such a claim.

"This is totally incorrect," he said, adding that "the command and control network of the Taliban is very much deep inside Afghanistan."

Washington Monday, AFP