Pakistan urges US to stop drone strikes
Pakistan: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani urged the United States
Monday to end its drone strikes in Pakistan and said Washington should
share intelligence better to allow Islamabad to wage its own war on
terror.
Speaking in Pakistan’s lower house, the National Assembly, after
meeting US House Speaker John Boehner in Islamabad, Gilani said: “I told
him that you will have to respect our political and military efforts if
you want to succeed” in combating insurgents. Boehner was leading a
six-member congressional delegation on a two-day visit and also met
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and US Ambassador Cameron
Munter.
“I told him that the US should transfer drone technology to Pakistan
if it is really against militants,” Gilani said in a televised address
to the house, without elaborating on what this might entail.
Later, a statement issued by the prime minister’s office quoted
Gilani as saying that the US should refrain from drone attacks and
instead share credible intelligence to enable Pakistan to take action
against terrorists itself.
Washington has massively ramped up its drone campaign against
militants in areas near the Afghan border. Tuesday, AFP
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