UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Pakistan's prime minister said Friday no "tangible evidence" has been found that al-Qaida operatives were among those killed in a U.S. missile strike on a border village last week. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said security agencies in the area of Damadola "have not found any tangible evidence that a particular group or any individual was there."
| Other than the blood trails from bodies dragged into the woods. |
A senior Pakistani intelligence official earlier told The Associated Press that al-Qaida figures were casualties of the Jan. 13 attack, which killed 13 villagers. Officials believe at least four foreign militants may also have died, including an al-Qaida explosives and chemical weapons expert and a son-in-law of the terror network's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Despite widespread protests across Pakistan this week calling for the ouster of Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a close ally of the U.S., Aziz told reporters that his nation stands solidly behind the United States and its fight against terrorists. "As regards the relations between Pakistan and the United States, or our conviction about fighting terrorism, there is no question that Pakistan is one of the countries which has done the most because we believe terorrism is no solution to any problems," he said.
| See, toldya Perv knew about this in advance. |
But the prime minister - at the U.N. to meet with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan - underscored that the government of Pakistan condemned the U.S. airstrike. Aziz said he will raise the issue with President Bush when the two meet next week in Washington in what he termed a "wide-ranging discussion." |