Bilawal urges Obama to apologise over Salala attack

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said he was visiting America to defuse tension between the United States and Pakistan, but US President Barack Obama should apologise to Pakistan for the attack on the Salala checkpost in November.
Speaking at a gathering in New York, Bilawal said drone attacks were a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Bilawal said Obama should apologise to the people of Pakistan over the attack on the checkpost. The US has still not apologised to the government and citizens of Pakistan over the Salala checkpost attack.
The PPP chairman moreover said that Pakistan-US relations were at a critical juncture. He said that questions were being raised on Pak-US friendship following the operation in Abbottabad and over the release of US citizen Raymond Davis who killed two Pakistani citizens in Lahore Bilawal said Pakistan was determined to eliminate terrorism. He further said that the PPP’s democratic government had successfully restored the 1973 constitution. Moreover, he said that his mother sacrificed her life for democracy and for women’s rights and that she struggled to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan.
Hina also seeks US apology: Foreign Minister Hina Ranbbani Khar, meanwhile, said that Pakistan was still seeking an apology from Washington over the killing of 26 Pakistani soldiers, while announcing that the Pakistani government does not wish a permanent blockade of NATO supplies. In an exclusive interview to a private news channel here, the foreign minister said that Pakistan’s sovereignty should be respected. “The public reaction comes when sovereignty of the country is violated,” Khar said. She said that Pakistan’s parliament had urged better relations with the world community, and that it had reviewed relations with the United States and ISAF. She added that Pakistan was still under pressure on the restoration of NATO supplies. “We want to tell the world that Pakistan is also a coalition partner to ensure peace in Afghanistan which is also in the better interest of the region,” she said.
Rejecting the criticism over President Zardari’s participation in Chicago summit, Khar said that those criticising the president wanted “to drag the country into backwardness”. She further said that the restoration of NATO supplies was not only an issue between Pakistan and the US, but it was a matter of relations with 60 countries. Pakistan’s stance cannot be well understood if it is kept at distance from the world community, she added. In another interview with Time Now, Khar rejected the impression that there was a stand off with the US regarding reopening of NATO supplies, saying the Pakistani government was hoping to resolve the issue on mutually acceptable terms. “Pakistan has been an enabler and facilitator for durable peace and stability in Afghanistan. We have played this role for 10 years effectively,” she said. She also downplayed Zardari’s absence from the photo session at the NATO summit.