LAHORE: Pakistan is concerned over the violation of its sovereignty and civilian casualties in drone attacks on Al Qaeda leaders, PakistanÂ’s Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani said on Monday.
In an interview with BBC Hard Talk, Haqqani said, “There is no doubt that the drones have eliminated many top Al Qaeda terrorists. That is not what Pakistan objects to – the elimination of militant leaders and terrorists through drone technology. Our issue is with respect to Pakistan’s sovereignty and we do not want civilian casualties.”
| Then 1) extend sovereignty to the wild lands and deal with the Talibs yourself and 2) get the wimmins and kiddies out of the way. |
Explaining Pakistan’s position on the strikes, he added, “ It is wrong to misinterpret Pakistan’s objections to the use of Predator drones as an objection to the elimination of senior Al Qaeda leaders. We want Pakistan’s sovereignty to be respected but it does not mean Pakistan does not want Al Qaeda or its allies to be eliminated from its soil. We are looking for ways which would allow the advantage and the positive aspect of the drones—that they help locate the bad guys and then can take them out –to continue without killing our innocent civilians and also ensure that Pakistan’s sovereignty is not violated.”
“Intelligence sharing between Pakistan and the US has improved and the US knows Pakistan is on the right path. Even the Afghan and Indian intelligence services, which have been at loggerheads with Pakistan’s intelligence service for years, recognise that Pakistan has found the right kind of intelligence against terrorists and is following it,” he was quoted as saying. |