In the midst of a unanimous national mood against the NATO attack on the Salala checkpost, President Asif Ali Zardari gave a cold shoulder to US Ambassador Cameron Munter on Tuesday and declined the US request for an early resumption of NATO supplies and no evacuation of the Shamsi airbase.
A source told Pakistan Today that the president conveyed to the US envoy that since the matter had been taken up by the parliamentary committee while the government had decided to summon the joint sitting of parliament to review the situation, now the matter was with parliament, which would take the decision on the future of Pak-US relations.
He also said the cabinet had already decided to boycott the Bonn Conference, which was self-explanatory and reflected the will of the people of Pakistan, added the source. The source said that during the meeting with the president, the US ambassador delivered a condolence message from President Barack Obama and urged President Zardari to play his role in pacifying the situation. The source quoted the ambassador as saying that soured relations between the US and Pakistan were not in the interest of either country or regional peace as well as an amicable resolution to the Afghan problem. He also told the president that Pakistan was a trusted friend for the US and decades-old relations must not be held hostage to an isolated incident, added the source.
The source also said the president told the ambassador that the situation in Pakistan was grave and public pressure had pushed the government to take harsh decisions, which could not be reversed without some concrete measures and a way forward by the ISAF and the US administration.
Parliament will decide ties with US: Zardari
