DAILY BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 29.10.2011

Pakistan ties troubled but repairable: US general

LONDON: US-Pakistani relations are at one of their worst points in memory after the Nato strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops, but can recover, Washington’s top military officer said on Monday.
General Martin Dempsey said Pakistani anger was justified given the loss of life. But he declined to offer an apology, saying during a trip to London that he did not know enough yet about the weekend incident and that there was a US military investigation.
“They have reason to be furious that they have 24 soldiers that are dead, and that the ordinance that killed them was the ordinance of a partner,” Dempsey, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Britain’s ITV News.
“I would certainly like to enlist their patience in helping us figure out what happened.”
Asked about US-Pakistani relations, Dempsey said: “It certainly does look like it’s on about as rocky a road as it has been in my memory. And my memory with Pakistan goes back some 20 years or so.”
Questioned whether the situation was irretrievable, he said: “No. I don’t think so.”
Dempsey branded the relationship with Pakistan “troubled” when he addressed a forum in London.
Pakistan shut Nato supply routes into Afghanistan in retaliation for the killings.
Dempsey said the United States could cope with the cut-off by channelling supplies through alternative routes.
“But I’d like to believe that we could, over time, with Pakistan’s approval, restore those lines of communication,” he said.
Pakistan has also said it had ordered the United States to vacate a drone base in the country.
Dempsey, who declined to acknowledge the use of drones at the base, said the move would be a “serious act in terms of our relationship”.
“They want us to close the base in Shamsi, the purpose of which I leave to your imagination. There are other options for stationing aircraft and other resources around the region,” Dempsey said.
Asked whether it was a serious blow, he said: “It’s a serious blow in the sense that the Pakistani government felt that they needed to deny us the use of a base that we’ve been using for many years.
“And so it’s serious in that regard. It’s not debilitating militarily.”
Dempsey said ties at senior levels between the two nations’ militaries were still strong at the “person-to-person” level.
He said he had known Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani since the two studied together at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in the late 1980s.
Dempsey refrained from repeating some of the accusations about Pakistani intelligence ties to anti-US militants that were cited by his predecessor, Admiral Mike Mullen. Mullen.
“Whether they are acting at the behest or at the direction of the ISI —I’m not prepared to say that,” he said.

China paper slams US over deadly Pakistan raid

BEIJING: An influential state-run Chinese newspaper on Tuesday accused the United States of violating international law and fanning the flames of terrorism after Nato strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
The strongly-worded editorial in the People’s Daily — mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist party — came after Beijing said it was “deeply shocked” by the strikes, which have exacerbated tensions between Islamabad and Washington.
“The United States and Nato have violated international law and international norms,” the paper said in an editorial condemning the attacks.
“This shows…that at crucial moments, the United States will not show the slightest hesitation to violate the sovereignty of another nation to ensure its ‘absolute security’.”
The use of such cross-border tactics will only incite terrorist sentiment, the editorial added.
“The soil nurturing terrorism will become even more fertile, and terrorist activities will become more widespread,” it said.
Pakistan has reacted furiously to what it called an “unprovoked” strike, worsening US-Pakistani relations already in crisis after the killing in May of Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad by US special forces.
Washington has backed a full inquiry into Saturday’s incident and sent its condolences, while Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday voiced regret over the “tragic, unintended” killings, but did not issue a full apology.
China is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and the main arms supplier to Islamabad, which sees Beijing as an important counter-balance to its traditional rival India.
The two countries conducted joint military exercises over the weekend, while Beijing has built two nuclear power plants in Pakistan and is contracted to construct two more reactors.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday and expressed shock over the attacks, a government statement said.
“All nations of the world and international organisations should fully respect Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Yang said, according to the statement.

Business News

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