Pakistani Religious Leader Asks Gov’t To Hit US Drones

Islamabad, Nov 2 ,IRNA – A senior Pakistani religious leader Friday called upon the government to shoot down American spy aircraft when they violate the country’s airspace to fire missiles into the tribal regions. Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, told anti-US drone strikes rally in the city of Lahore, that the nation is disappointed at the continuation of US drone strikes and the government must act now to bring the drones down. Saeed’s outfit staged rallies in major cities to condemn the US drone attacks just a day after a fresh attack killed at least three people in North Waziristan tribal region. The Foreign Ministry also condemned the Waziristan strike and warned that these attacks are harmful for inter-state relations. “The government must take practical steps to stop drone stacks rather than making statements,” Saeed said. He called upon the government to order halt to the NATO supplies through Pakistani soil if the US continued drone attacks. He said Pakistan was not bound to act on bilateral agreements with the US as it is violating the country’s sovereignty. “The US has imposed a war on Pakistan and the Americans are responsible for the suicide attacks and bomb blasts in the country,” he said. He also accused the US of sabotaging the proposed talks with the Pakistani Taliban, warning the government to be aware of the conspiracies. Pakistani media also condemned the Thursday’s strike and described it more embarrassing for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who in his recent meeting with President Barack Obama had demanded end to the drone strikes. At his meeting with the US president, Mr. Sharif also said the drones kill innocent people and are counterproductive. “The US appears to be determined to use the drones, no matter who and how many are killed, to keep the government under constant pressure and force it to play a favorable role while US troops pull out of Afghanistan,” The Nation newspaper said in its comments on Friday. The Amnesty International (AI) came up with a detailed field research on nine of 45 reported drone strikes that occurred between January 2012 and August 2013 in North Waziristan region—and found that the US might be responsible for up to 900 civilian deaths. Quoting some Pakistan government and NGO sources, the report said that the US launched some 330 to 374 drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and September 2013,” which resulted in estimates of between “400 and 900 civilians having been killed in these attacks and at least 600 people seriously injured. The AI described the attacks as a war crime, a position which Pakistan leadership can dare endorse./end