Pakistan won't accept repeat of âCIA airstrikeâ
ISLAMABAD â Pakistan âcannot accept any action within our countryâ such as the US missile attack â apparently aimed at Al Qaedaâs No. 2 leader â that killed civilians in a border village, the prime minister said yesterday.
So go find and kill Zawahiri yourself. We won't mind, really we won't. | Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, however, stressed that Pakistanâs relationship with the United States remained important and reiterated he was pressing ahead with an official visit to Washington. He is due to depart Pakistan later yesterday.
He made the comments surrounding the purported CIA strike targeting Ayman Al Zawahiri in a joint Press conference with former US president George H.W. Bush, who is currently touring Pakistan as the UN secretary-generalâs special envoy for the relief effort in areas affected by Octoberâs monster earthquake. âPakistan has committed to fighting terrorism but naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend,â Aziz said. âThe relationship with the US is important, it is growing,â Aziz said. âBut at the same time such actions cannot be condoned.â
Many in this nation of 150 million people oppose the governmentâs backing of the United States, and there is increasing seething frustration over a recent series of suspected US attacks along the porous and ill-defined frontier aimed at militants.
No frustration, however, at the ISI/Taliban attacks along the same border. | âMy trip to the U.S. is there on schedule because we want to engage on many issues, including how we fight terrorism, and this incident will also be discussed,â Aziz said at a joint news conference with the former U.S. president.
Earlier in the day, Pakistanâs Cabinet condemned the loss of life, and Aziz said that he would take up the matter with US President George W. Bush, when he meets him later this month.
I'd love to be the fly on the wall for that one. |
Posted by: Steve White 2006-01-18 |