Pakistan Says Terrorism Fight Must Respect Its Sovereignty
May 16, 2011, 12:29 AM EDTBy Haris Anwar and Paul Tighe
(Updates with Kerry visit in fifth paragraph.)
May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said anti-terrorist operations must respect the country’s sovereignty as lawmakers condemned the U.S. raid that killed al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and missile attacks in tribal areas.
“The U.S. should listen to the voice of the people of Pakistan and stop drone attacks,” Malik said in Karachi, according to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. “We have to work together, even with our neighbors. Aggression in any shape will not be tolerated.”
Malik spoke after Pakistan’s upper and lower houses of Parliament passed a resolution May 14 asking the government to consider ending a transit route used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to supply forces in Afghanistan, and to review the terms of engagement with the U.S. over the fight against terrorism.
President Barack Obama’s decision not to inform Pakistan about the May 2 raid against bin Laden has strained ties between the countries. Pakistan’s military has been criticized by politicians, media and the public for failing to detect either bin Laden or the U.S. commando force that killed him as he hid in Abbottabad 48 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan’s army chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, told visiting U.S. Senator John Kerry that there were “intense feelings” in the military over the raid that killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, according to an army statement today.
Clinton Call
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called President Asif Ali Zardari last night, Zardari’s office said in a statement. While Zardari told Clinton of the concerns expressed by members of Pakistan’s Parliament, the two agreed to “resolve issues amicably and move forward,” the statement said.
Obama said on CBS television on May 8 that the Pakistani government must investigate whether any of its officials helped shelter the al-Qaeda leader.
Allegations against the military “are based on miscommunication” and the army is doing a good job serving the nation, Malik said, according to APP. “Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism, we lost over 30,000 people, including 5,000 personnel of the Army and Frontier Corps, in operations against terrorists, miscreants and militants.”
Roadside Bomb
At least six people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded May 14 near a passenger bus in Kharian, a garrison town about 125 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of the capital, Islamabad, the Dawn newspaper reported, citing police.
Pakistan’s Taliban on May 13 carried out its deadliest bombing this year, killing 80 cadets in the northwest in an attack it said was part of a campaign to avenge the death of bin Laden.
A missile strike by an unmanned U.S. spy plane killed five people in Pakistan’s tribal area of North Waziristan three days ago, Aaj Television reported.
The U.S. unilateral action in Abbottabad and continued drone attacks are “unacceptable” and must be stopped forthwith, the lawmakers said in their statement. The government will be obliged to “consider taking necessary steps, including withdrawal of transit facility” allowed to NATO forces if such missions don’t cease, they said.
Blocked Supplies
Pakistan in September blocked the passage of supplies for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan after an air strike killed three Pakistani soldiers. Half of all war supplies to Afghanistan pass through Pakistan, according to the U.S. military’s Transportation Command, at a rate of 580 truckloads per day.
The lawmakers also asked the government “to revisit and review its terms of engagement with the U.S., with a view to ensuring that Pakistan’s national interests are fully respected,” according to the statement.
Pakistan is a main U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda- linked militants, and the Obama administration is pressing it to cooperate more fully in the war against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has received $14.6 billion in economic and military assistance from the U.S. since 2005 to help revive growth and assist allied forces fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
Zardari’s cooperation with Obama hasn’t been popular with Pakistanis, particularly his tolerance of U.S. drone missile attacks on tribal areas on the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistan’s military offensives against the Taliban and allied guerrillas have sparked retaliatory attacks in cities nationwide that killed more than 2,000 civilians and security personnel last year, according to the South Asian terrorism database of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.
--Editors: Paul Tighe, Jim McDonald
To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net; Haris Anwar in Islamabad at hanwar2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
