US drone attacks must stop - Pakistan
Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 03:00PM THE AUSTRALIAN
PAKISTAN'S parliament has demanded an end to US drone strikes on its territory and called for an independent probe into the raid by US troops that killed Osama bin Laden to ensure there is no repeat.
The strongly worded message came after a joint sitting of parliament lasting more than 10 hours, during which MPs debated the "situation arising from unilateral US action in Abbottabad'' which targeted bin Laden.
Pakistan's intelligence chief Ahmad Shuja Pasha, chief of military operations and deputy chief of air staff, briefed the MPs in Islamabad.
Describing the continued drone strikes as "unacceptable'', parliament said in a resolution: "Such drone attacks must be stopped forthwith, failing which the government will be constrained to consider taking (the) necessary steps, including withdrawal of (the) transit facility allowed to NATO.''
Most supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan are shipped through the main northwestern border crossing, which comes under frequent militant attacks.
US strikes doubled last year, with more than 100 drone operations killing over 670 people, according to an Agence France-Presse tally, and the CIA has said the covert programme has severely disrupted al-Qaeda's leadership.
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