ISLAMABAD Drone attacks were a violation of international laws and US should withdraw its forces from Afghanistan at the earliest.Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf expressed these views in a one-on-one meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday in Islamabad.According to sources, Imran Khan conveyed his reservations about US war on terror and drone attacks to John Kerry.He urged upon the US Secretary of State that US should pull out its forces from Afghanistan as early as possible.Imran said Pakistan would have to pay the price if US forces were not withdrawn from Afghanistan.He reiterated his stance that Pakistan should be kept away from the US war on terror.Suicide bombers use drone attacks as pretext for attacks inside Pakistan, Imran is reported to have said to Kerry.“Drone attacks are not only against the international laws but also a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.On drones, Imran reiterated that drones were a violation of international law and counterproductive as they cause collateral damage in terms of increasing terrorism; and they link Pakistan to the US War on Terror.This in turn allows the terrorists to exploit the narrative of Jehad and creates the suicide bombers with their devastating suicide attacks.Imran told Kerry to stop the suicide attacks you have to take away the motivation.Imran informed the US Secretary of State that through a complete halt of US drone strikes suicide bombing could be stopped.He also stressed that Pakistan had to delink from the US war on terror to deprive the terrorists of their exploitation of the narrative of Jehad.On the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Khan informed John Kerry that unless the withdrawal is orderly Pakistan will have to bear the brunt of the mess left behind, as happened with the chaotic Soviet withdrawal.That is why all stakeholders must be taken on board so that a peaceful withdrawal can be achieved.Kerry asked about Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Imran Khan explained how the province has to bear the major backlash of what happens in FATA as it is surrounded on three sides by FATA.He also admitted the provincial police were ill equipped to fight the terrorists, especially without a holistic national counter terrorism policy.Imran said he had initiated a request for the government to immediately develop a national counter terror policy and organizational framework but so far nothing had come from the government side.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 16:00:37 +0000
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