US assured there will be no unilateral action: Foreign Office

Presidential spokesperson emphasises need to move away from unilateral actions and focus on cooperation.

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad has reacted cautiously to the latest remarks by US President Barack Obama that his country would replicate the Abbottabad raid if another ‘high value target’ was found in Pakistan.

The Foreign Office spokesperson insisted that the US had assured Pakistan that it would not resort to unilateral action in future. Pakistan and the US have already announced that they would work together for any future action against “high value targets” in the country, said Tehmina Janjua.

The spokesman for President Asif Zardari echoed her views. “We need to move away from unilateral actions and focus on cooperation in countering  terrorism,” Farhatullah Babar said and declined to comment further.

A joint statement issued last week following talks between US Senator John Kerry and Pakistan’s top political and military leadership said that the two countries would work jointly against any “high value targets” in Pakistan.

Analysts say the US president’s “blunt” statement indicates that the Pakistan government does not have a clear-cut policy to deal with the issue.

“It’s shameful and a cause of concern for the people of Pakistan,” said security analyst Brig. (Retd) Mehmood Shah.

Shah, who also served as secretary security for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), said that the lack of coherent response to the US raid had encouraged President Obama to threaten more such attacks.

Following the Abbottabad raid, the government reacted angrily and warned that any future attacks would result in a “terrible catastrophe.”

However, the Pakistan leadership apparently toned down the “rhetoric” following Senator Kerry’s visit while senior defence officials in background briefings with the media admitted that the country could not afford any confrontation with the US.

On President Obama’s support for the Afghan reconciliation, the Foreign Office spokesperson said that Pakistan, the United States and Afghanistan agreed on an Afghan-led effort to bring peace and stability in the war-torn region. She said that Islamabad would support any Afghan effort to stabilise the situation in the strife-torn country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2011.