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Pakistan Clears Way For NATO
Pakistan's Parliament approved new guidelines on relations with the U.S. in a vote that could pave the way for the reopening of North Atlantic Treaty Organization supply routes to Afghanistan.Islamabad has blocked NATO from using Pakistan soil to provision troops in Afghanistan since November after the inadvertent killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in U.S. helicopter airstrikes. NATO and U.S. forces have had to reroute supplies through Central Asia, a more costly proceduren republics. Pakistan's government and military had said it wouldn't reopen the routes until its Parliament had a chance to re-evaluate the country's relations with the U.S., a process aimed at dousing growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the country. The debate appeared to end Thursday with lawmakers voting to accept guidelines that include calling on the U.S. to end drone strikes in Pakistan and formally apologize for the killing of the soldiers. Parliament also recommended that Pakistan allow NATO to begin using the supply routes again, but charge a higher fee. Posted by: tipper 2012-04-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=342714 |