A PAKISTANI parliamentary committee reviewing ties with the US said today it wants a halt to attacks in Pakistan by US drone aircraft, a request that could further strain an uneasy alliance with Washington.
A NATO cross-border air attack on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers created a deep crisis in relations and prompted Pakistan to review its relationship with the US, a source of billions of dollars in aid.
Pakistan halted overland supplies to US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan in protest and forced US personnel off a base that had been used to launch drone strikes on militants in Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghanistan border.
Raza Rabbani, chairman of a parliamentary committee on national security, outlined its recommendations in the house, and said Pakistan should demand an unconditional apology for the “condemnable and unprovoked” NATO attack.
Drone strikes, which US officials say are highly effective against militant groups, fuel anti-American sentiment in Pakistan because they are seen by the public as a violation of sovereignty which inflict civilian casualties.
The Pakistani government officially objects to the drone strikes, and politicians criticise them in public, but many of the attacks have been carried out with Pakistani approval, officials in both countries have said.
Pakistan’s cooperation is seen as critical to US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014.
Rabbani said that if and when supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan were resumed, the shipments must be taxed. He insisted that parliament should approve any future use of Pakistani bases or air space by foreign forces.
