Pages

Showing posts with label NATO terrorists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATO terrorists. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pak will respond if drone strikes don’t stop: ISI chief

Islamabad, May 223 The ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha has warned the US that Pakistan will be "forced to respond" if it does not stop drone strikes in the country's tribal belt, according to a media report today.

Pasha, who faced tremendous criticism after the May 2 US raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad, made Pakistan's stand clear during a meeting yesterday between visiting CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell and senior ISI officials.

The ISI chief took a firm stance with the US on drone strikes, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.

"We will be forced to respond if you do not come up with a strategy that stops the drone strikes," Pasha reportedly told Morell.

Pasha also described a recent incursion by NATO helicopters into Pakistani airspace as a "shock" for defence cooperation between the US and Pakistan.

Morrell also met operational leaders of the ISI and members of the spy agency's recently set-up counter-terrorism division.

Both sides reportedly discussed a way forward that will involve the US stopping drone strikes and expanding joint operations against militants.

Relations between the CIA and ISI were strained even before the May 2 unilateral American raid that killed bin Laden.

The ISI repeated the demand during yesterday's meetings, with Pakistani officials asking the US to provide a list of names of people employed by the CIA or other US intelligence agencies, The Express Tribune reported.