Pakistan condemns U.S. drone strikes

Pakistan on Friday condemned the American drone strikes in the country’s tribal regions a day after two attacks killed a Taliban commander and eight other people in Waziristan tribal areas.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Moazzam Khan said Pakistan wants to resolve the issue of the American drone attacks in the country’s through bilateral talks with the United States.

U.S. spy aircraft carried two attacks in Waziristan tribal region and killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader, Mulla Nazir and eight other people on Thursday.

Mulla Nazir’s Wazir tribe had struck a peace deal with the Pakistani forces in 2007 and both sides are holding the agreement. However,  the U.S. had been accusing him of sending his fighters to Afghanistan for attacks on foreign and Afghan forces.

Pakistan publicly opposes the American drone attacks but the U.S. has not hinted any change in the CIA-controlled drone operations.

“We consider the drone strikes totally unproductive, illegal and violative of Pakistan’s territorial integrity,” Foreign Ministry spokesman, Moazam Khan said.

He told weekly press briefing that Pakistan has time and again taken up the issue of drone strikes with the United States and hoped both the sides will be able to resolve this issue bilaterally.

“We are also touch in with different organizations including the United Nations to brief them about Pakistan’s position on the drone attacks,” the spokesman said.

Khan said that the issue of drones has been raised at the highest level as Pakistan condemns the drone attacks.

When queried about the killing of Mullah Nazir in drone strike, the spokesman said he cannot confirm the death of the Taliban leader in the drone strike.

To a question, the spokesperson confirmed that Pakistan has released twenty six Taliban leaders to facilitate the reconciliation and peace process in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan attaches great importance to peace and stability in Afghanistan and is willing to facilitate the reconciliation process there”.

He said Pakistan is hopeful that a conference of Pakistani and Afghan religious scholars will be held in Kabul this month and that concerned quarters are finalizing the date for the conference and Pakistani delegation will attend the moot.

About the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Islamabad, the spokesman said the invitation is there but no dates have yet been finalized.

In a briefing in Islamabad on Friday‚ he said that the issue has been raised at the highest level as Pakistan condemns the drone attacks.

When asked as to when Pakistan will finally grant the Most Favored Nation status to India, the spokesman said the federal cabinet in its last meeting discussed the issue and reiterated its earlier resolve of granting the MFN status to India.

Regarding the recent visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said the foreign minister held in depth discussions with the Saudi leadership on the expansion of bilateral relations in diverse fields. During the visit, leadership of both the countries emphasized the need to institutionalize the relationship. He said both the sides also discussed regional situation with particular reference to the situation in Afghanistan and Syria. He said the two countries share the perception that terrorism poses a common threat to the region and the world.

Moazzam Ahmad Khan said Islamabad attaches great importance to its relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran.

About US-Iran relations, the spokesman hoped that all the issues between the two countries will be resolved peacefully.

To a question, he said father of Malala Yousafzai has been appointed as an education attache in Pakistan’s high commission to the UK to facilitate the medical treatment of Malala.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Jan 4 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.