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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Pakistan protests over US missile strikes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-20 22:26 "These kinds of acts are counter-productive ... it adds to our problems," Gilani said, adding he was sure when "Obama's government is formed, these attacks will be controlled." Addressing NATO's military committee in Brussels on Wednesday Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani also urged a halt to the use of unmanned "combat aerial vehicles within Pakistani territory." Kayani met NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and held meetings with Admiral Michael Mullen, US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and a French defense chief. Earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry denied Pakistan had a secret agreement with Washington to publicly protest the attacks, while privately acquiescing. Missile-armed drones are primarily used by US forces in the region. The United States seldom confirms drone attacks. Pakistan does not have any combat drones. The Arab killed in the attack in Bannu was identified by a Pakistani intelligence officer as Abdullah Azam al-Saudi. Bannu district in North West Frontier Province lies at the gateway to North Waziristan, a hotbed of Taliban and al Qaeda support. The officer, based in neighboring Dera Ismail Khan district, described al-Saudi as a coordinator between al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan. The officer requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. There was no other corroboration of al-Saudi's death. Taliban fighters cordoned off the area around the destroyed house, but photographers took pictures of young boys holding pieces of the missile that destroyed it. The Pakistani Taliban, in a statement issued after a meeting of commanders in North Waziristan, threatened revenge attacks outside the tribal lands if missile attacks continued. |
