ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Washington must stop U.S. missile attacks on
the Pakistani side of the Afghan border or risk losing the war against
al-Qaida and the Taliban, Pakistan’s prime minister warned.
“No
matter who the president of America will be, if he doesn’t respect the
sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan ... anti-America sentiments and
anti-West sentiment will be there,” said Yousuf Raza Gilani in an
interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday in his heavily guarded
residence in the capital Islamabad.
Over the last two months, the
U.S. has launched at least 17 strikes on militant targets on Pakistan’s
lawless side of the Afghan border.
Washington says the region is
believed to be home to many of al-Qaida’s top leaders, including Osama
bin Laden, and is also used by militants blamed for rising attacks on
NATO and U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
But Gilani said
the U.S. attacks by unmanned drones in the semiautonomous tribal
regions were “uniting the militants with the tribes. How can you fight
a war without the support of the people?” he said.
The prime
minister said the U.S. should share intelligence with his country’s
military to allow Pakistan to go after militants themselves.
As
Gilani spoke, several thousand hard-line Muslims demonstrated against
the strikes in a town in the border region and in the southern city of
Karachi, burning U.S. flags, witnesses said.
Democratic candidate
Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain have roughly similar
positions on Pakistan, though during the campaign differences in
emphasis have emerged.
Obama has said if he is elected, he could
launch unilateral attacks on high-value terrorist targets in Pakistan
as they become exposed and “if Pakistan cannot or will not act” against
them. McCain says attacks shouldn’t be discussed “out loud” but has not
said he disagrees with them.
On Monday, Gilani held talks with
U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, who is making his first tour of the region
since taking over U.S. Central Command last week.
The Pakistan
army is undertaking a major offensive in the border region against
militants and is trying to persuade local tribes to join the fight — a
task it says is made especially difficult by the U.S. attacks.
Source > Army times | nov 04
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