Both US and Pak will fail in fight against terrorism if not together: Gilani
April 18th, 2011 - 1:46 pm ICT by ANI
Islamabad, Apr 18(ANI): Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has insisted that Pakistan and the United States have to fight terrorism in a combined manner, and warned that both risk failing if they don’t stick together in dealing with this challenge.
“By now the US is convinced that we are part of the solution to terrorism, but not a part of the problem,” the News quoted Gilani, as saying.
He added that terrorism was a global challenge and Pakistan a frontline state in the global war.
“Terrorism has neither boundaries nor ideology; it is meant only to destabilize. It has no support in Pakistan because it works for a foreign agenda and is sponsored from abroad,” the Prime Minister said.
To a question about extending American military presence in the country, Gilani reiterated that there should be respect for the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister also urged the Obama administration to stop the drone attacks.
“It [using drones] is not in favour of either military or political strategy. Drones make Pakistan’s work difficult,” Gilani said.
Over 900 people were killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had earlier said in its annual report.
The US does not confirm the drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the unmanned aircraft in the region.
Pakistan officially protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but its security agencies are believed to secretly cooperate with the programme. (ANI)
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Tags: american military presence, annual report, boundaries, drone, favour, frontline state, global challenge, global war terrorism, hrcp, human rights commission, human rights commission of pakistan, islamabad, political strategy, prime minister, security agencies, sovereignty, strikes, tribal areas, unmanned aircraft, using drones