Pakistan tells U.S. military to leave Shamsi air base
The Nation
6/30/11
ISLAMABAD (- Pakistan told the United States to leave a remote desert airbase used as a hub for covert CIA drone attacks, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said Wednesday.
His remarks are the latest indication of Pakistan attempting to limit US activities since a clandestine American military raid killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 and plunged ties between the anti-terror allies into chaos.
“We have told them (US officials) to leave the airbase,” Mukhtar told a group of journalists in his office. “This trust deficit with US could be reduced by sitting together and taking joint actions,” he added.
Asked about Omar, Mukhtar said: “If he was in Pakistan, even then, he would have left the country after the Abbottabad incident.” Mukhtar said that he supported negotiations with the Taliban to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan. Mukhtar said the trust between the US and Pakistan has reduced to a great extent after May 02 incident. “This trust deficit could be reduced by sitting together and taking joint actions,” he said.
The minister pointed out that Coalition Support Fund had stopped its funding for the war on terror being fought in FATA and as a result, this war was harming our economy.
To a question about bringing drastic changes in the defence doctrine of the country, he said “After September 11 incident, the entire world has changed, so there is a need to change our defence strategy which remained eastern border oriented for decades. There seems to be no threat over there.” He, however, said that the policy matters should be discussed in the Defence Committee of the Parliament.
Mukthar said that no one including Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha is indispensible for Pakistan, adding the country’s civilian and military leadership are mulling to change its defence policy keeping in view the current situation.
Responding to a question, he said there was no need to change the military leadership in the backdrop of Abbottabad incident. “The ISI Director General had presented himself before the Parliament and offered resignation, but the parliamentarians reposed confidence into him,” he added.
US HAS BEEN A VERY SELFISH AND UNGRATEFUL ALLY. Attack on Pakistani border posts was a pre planned attack in support of Afghan terrorists who, under the cover of this fire, were pushed across into Pakistan for terrorist activities. By supporting the terrorists, US has lost the moral grounds to expect any support from Pakistan in the name of war against terror.