Pakistan won’t allow drones in its airspace, Sherry tells US

Pakistan on Tuesday told the United States it will no longer permit drones to use the country’s airspace to attack militants and collect intelligence on al Qaeda and other groups. Pakistan Ambassador to Washington Sherry Rehman met US Vice President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Antony Blinken on March 9 and conveyed the decision.
She told him that Pakistan’s political parties had agreed that the drone flights over Pakistan must end, the Bloomberg news service said, citing unnamed US officials. “Pakistan’s sovereignty over its airspace and the civilian casualties that have resulted from drone strikes are emotional issues in Pakistan, where public opinion heavily favours terminating drone missions,” the report cited Pakistani officials as saying. “The US will try to reach a point with Pakistani leaders,” two US officials said. “The only chance for a compromise,” the Pakistani officials said, “may be if the US agrees to share intelligence and coordinate strikes first, a strategy Pakistan has long advocated.” The US has resisted giving information to Pakistan in advance because of fears that some in Pakistan’s security forces might warn the targets of the impending strikes, the report said.