Demanding a firm assurance by the US that it would not undertake unilateral military action on Pakistani soil in the future, Islamabad has finalised its list of conditions to be forwarded to Washington with a clear message that their acceptance was a major prerequisite for the continuation of the anti-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and the United States.
The list contains tough conditions like an end to drone strikes in the Tribal Areas, withdrawal of US spies and defence contractors from Pakistan and complete intelligence sharing by the US about the possible presence of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders inside the country. The Pakistani list of conditions will not only be sent to Washington through diplomatic channels, but will be also shared with Senator John Kerry, who arrived in Islamabad on Sunday night to hold crucial talks with Pakistani leaders.
Senator Kerry is the first senior US official to visit Pakistan after Osama bin Laden’s killing, following which relations between Islamabad and Washington reached new lows and the bilateral cooperation came to a halt. “The US authorities will have to assure that they will not carry out military action here on their own in the future. We will not allow their boots on our ground and this will be made clear to them,” a diplomat told Pakistan Today.
He said Pakistan wanted an end to the drone strikes and the withdrawal of all American spies and defence contractors at the earliest. A Pakistani security official said, “Another important condition for resuming cooperation is the formalisation of the agreement between the CIA and ISI to carry forward the alliance, as stated by Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha in parliament.”
He said Pakistani leaders would tell Kerry that his country was required to trust Pakistan, which had given more sacrifices than any other state in the global fight against terrorism. “Senator Kerry will be told that the Americans would share whatever information they have on Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders’ whereabouts in Pakistan, and our security organisations would have no problem in carrying out action against them, just the way they have done in the past,” the official said.
Prior to Senator Kerry’s visit to Pakistan, some media reports from Washington suggested that the US was likely to seek Pakistan’s help in an investigation into a prayer leader at a Florida mosque and his two sons, arrested in the US on Saturday on charges of financing the Pakistani Taliban. Three others charged were living in Pakistan, US officials were quoted in the report.
However, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua rejected reports that Pak-US anti-terrorism cooperation was at a halt. She said Pakistan had been constantly cooperating with the US to counter terrorism.
Pakistan finalises new rules for cooperation with US
