Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said the Haqqani group, that the US holds responsible for last week’s attack against the American embassy in Kabul, was CIA’s “blue-eyed boy” for many years.
Responding to questions during an interview with Al Jazeera television, Khar, who is in New York leading Pakistan’s delegation in the UN General Assembly, rejected US accusations against the Pakistani intelligence agency and said it has no links to the Haqqani network. “If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) also has links with many terrorist organisations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links,” she said, adding “and this particular network, which (the US) continues to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years.”
Specifically asked about Admiral Mike Mullen’ statement that the Haqqani group “acts as a veritable arm” of ISI, the foreign minister said, “it is something that goes very, very unappreciated on our side. This is unsubstantiated. No evidence has been shared with us.” “Partners and allies,” she said, “do not talk to each other through public statements.” Pakistan had taken up the matter with the US, but the spate of hostile statements coming from senior US officials meant that Washington had taken its policy decision, Hina said, adding “If this is the case then we too have the right to make our own decisions.” Khar went to say that using Pakistan as a scapegoat would not help. “I just hope that we’ll be given a chance to cooperate with each other and the doors will remain open because statements like this are pretty much close to shutting those doors,” she said, adding that such statements would alienate the people of Pakistan. Replying to a question, the foreign minister said the drone attacks not only violated Pakistan’s sovereignty, they were also counterproductive, and greatly angered the people. “I think we must not be tested more than we have the ability to bear,” she added.
Haqqanis were your blue-eyed boys, Hina Khar tells US
