Pakistan border fire provoked NATO
raid: Reports
WASHINGTON: The West is striving to limit the fallout from a
deadly Nato air raid on Pakistani border troops, but reports the soldiers
opened fire first on US and Afghan forces risked stoking new tensions.Pakistan is simmering over the killings of the 24 soldiers, with fiery weekend protests denouncing the assault by Nato helicopters and fighter jets on two military posts on the Afghan border early Saturday.
The United States, which depends on Pakistan as a vital lifeline to supply 130,000 foreign troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, on Sunday scrambled to salvage the alliance, backing a full inquiry and expressing condolences.
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen also sought to soothe Islamabad’s rage, but stopped short of issuing a full apology for the “tragic, unintended” killings.
In retaliation for the raid, Islamabad has blocked Nato convoys from crossing into Afghanistan, ordered a review of its alliance with the US and mulled whether to boycott a key conference on Afghanistan next month.
Hundreds of enraged Pakistanis took to the streets Sunday, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and setting fire to US flags across the country of 167 million where opposition to the government’s US alliance is rampant.
Pakistan says the attack was unprovoked.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar telephoned US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday to convey a “deep sense of rage” as a joint funeral was held for the dead soldiers, their coffins draped in the national flag.
But a report in Monday’s Wall Street Journal — denied by Islamabad — said the Nato jets and helicopters responded to firing from a Pakistani post on the ill-defined Afghan border.
The article, which followed a similar report by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying the air raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.
Nato and Afghan forces “were fired on from a Pakistani army base”, the unnamed Western official told the Wall Street Journal. “It was a defensive action.”
An Afghan official in Kabul was quoted as saying: “There was firing coming from the position against Afghan army soldiers who requested support and this is what happened.”
The official added that the government in Kabul believes the fire came from the Pakistani military base — and not from insurgents in the area.
There was no official US response to the report.
The latest tensions have erupted months after the fraught US-Pakistan alliance was plunged into crisis by the killing in May of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad by US special forces.
On the Fox News Sunday talk show, US lawmakers vented frustration over Pakistan, with Republican SeNator Jon Kyl demanding Islamabad cooperate with the United States in order to maintain billions of dollars in financial aid.
SeNator Dick Durbin, a top Democrat, offered condolences but said US soldiers were caught in a “diplomatic morass between the incompetence and corruption in Afghanistan, and complicity in parts of Pakistan”.
But John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations who was a hawkish foreign policy advisor to president George W Bush, laid bare the dilemma for Washington in handling nuclear-armed Pakistan.
“While it is tempting for many people to say we ought to throw the Pakistanis over the side and stop giving them aid… as long as that country has nuclear weapons that could fall into the hands of radicals and be a threat worldwide, they have incredible leverage,” he said.
The United States in 2009 approved a huge five-year, $7.5 billion civilian assistance package for Pakistan, but some US lawmakers want to cut civilian aid due to concerns over extremism.
Pak-Iran
gas pipeline not a good idea: Munter
LAHORE: US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said on Friday
that the Pak-Iran gas pipeline was not a good idea, Geo News reported. The plan
to get gas from Turkmenistan is a “better idea,” Munter added.
Speaking during a lecture at a private Lahore University, the US ambassa dor denied having met Imran Khan and ISI chief Pasha together. Munter also said that the US wanted to strengthen both civil and military ties with Pakistan.
On the memo issue, Munter commented that it was treated with seriousness in the US along with the resignation of Husain Haqqani. Munter added that on the protest of Army chief Kayani, some US officials in Pakistan were sent back.
Agencies add: US Ambassa dor Cameron Munter on Friday said the United States wants a strong Pakistan and stressed the role of both countries in ensuring a stable, democratic, and prosperous region.
“Pakistan’s success is America’s success,” Munter said in his address to more than 150 students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) here, according to a US embassy statement.
The US ambassa dor said the students of Pakistan would have to take the leadership to make their country stable, democratic, and prosperous. He emphasized the themes of leadership, partnership and solidarity.
The ambassa dor and his wife Dr. Marilyn Wyatt focused on inspiring Pakistan’s next generation of leaders on the first day of their visit to Lahore. Munter said LUMS exemplifies the type of partnership between Pakistan and the United States having partnerships with eminent American institutions like Harvard and the University of Chicago. He said LUMS has also partnerships with leading American businesses like Pepsi and Citibank.
Ambassa dor Munter expressed admiration for LUMS and said the institution can be a leading model for Pakistan and the world. Dr. Wyatt inspired young students at the Children’s Literature Festival held in Lahore on Friday. Reading from the American classic Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Dr. Wyatt remarked on the power of books to inspire the best in children. The US mission provided a $10,000 grant to support the two-day festival.
Talking to media persons, the US ambassa dor said that Pak-Iran gas pipeline project was not in Pakistan’s interest, suggesting that instead Pakistan can get the required quantity of gas from Turkmenistan. Munter said this US stand was not a dictation but a friendly advice.
He said the US was fighting the war on terror in line with the wishes of Pakistan government and the people. He said the US recognises the sacrifices by Pakistan in the fight against militancy but stressed that military assistance to Pakistan was linked with the war on terror.
To a question, Ambassa dor Munter said the US had taken the memo issue and resignation of Husain Haqqani seriously and if asked, the US would cooperate in the investigation. However, he said it was the responsibility of the government to hold an inquiry.
About Sherry Rehman, Munter said they know her well and hoped that they would jointly work to strengthen the relations between the two countries. He said a strong and stable Pakistan was in the interest of the United States and keeping this in view, they were working to strengthen the bilateral relations.
Speaking during a lecture at a private Lahore University, the US ambassa dor denied having met Imran Khan and ISI chief Pasha together. Munter also said that the US wanted to strengthen both civil and military ties with Pakistan.
On the memo issue, Munter commented that it was treated with seriousness in the US along with the resignation of Husain Haqqani. Munter added that on the protest of Army chief Kayani, some US officials in Pakistan were sent back.
Agencies add: US Ambassa dor Cameron Munter on Friday said the United States wants a strong Pakistan and stressed the role of both countries in ensuring a stable, democratic, and prosperous region.
“Pakistan’s success is America’s success,” Munter said in his address to more than 150 students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) here, according to a US embassy statement.
The US ambassa dor said the students of Pakistan would have to take the leadership to make their country stable, democratic, and prosperous. He emphasized the themes of leadership, partnership and solidarity.
The ambassa dor and his wife Dr. Marilyn Wyatt focused on inspiring Pakistan’s next generation of leaders on the first day of their visit to Lahore. Munter said LUMS exemplifies the type of partnership between Pakistan and the United States having partnerships with eminent American institutions like Harvard and the University of Chicago. He said LUMS has also partnerships with leading American businesses like Pepsi and Citibank.
Ambassa dor Munter expressed admiration for LUMS and said the institution can be a leading model for Pakistan and the world. Dr. Wyatt inspired young students at the Children’s Literature Festival held in Lahore on Friday. Reading from the American classic Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Dr. Wyatt remarked on the power of books to inspire the best in children. The US mission provided a $10,000 grant to support the two-day festival.
Talking to media persons, the US ambassa dor said that Pak-Iran gas pipeline project was not in Pakistan’s interest, suggesting that instead Pakistan can get the required quantity of gas from Turkmenistan. Munter said this US stand was not a dictation but a friendly advice.
He said the US was fighting the war on terror in line with the wishes of Pakistan government and the people. He said the US recognises the sacrifices by Pakistan in the fight against militancy but stressed that military assistance to Pakistan was linked with the war on terror.
To a question, Ambassa dor Munter said the US had taken the memo issue and resignation of Husain Haqqani seriously and if asked, the US would cooperate in the investigation. However, he said it was the responsibility of the government to hold an inquiry.
About Sherry Rehman, Munter said they know her well and hoped that they would jointly work to strengthen the relations between the two countries. He said a strong and stable Pakistan was in the interest of the United States and keeping this in view, they were working to strengthen the bilateral relations.
Pakistani
Rupee hits record low of 88.04 to dollar
KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee hit a new record low on
Monday, touching 88.04 to the dollar on increased import payments.
The rupee was trading at 88.00/10 to the dollar at 9:55 a.m. (0455 GMT), compared with Friday's close of 87.75/80.
The rupee was trading at 88.00/10 to the dollar at 9:55 a.m. (0455 GMT), compared with Friday's close of 87.75/80.
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