Drone strikes to end 'very, very soon': John Kerry

US Secretary of State says that Obama has a real timeline on when to end drone strikes.

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry hinted towards an end of the CIA-operated drone campaign in the tribal areas of Pakistan, as he said in a television interview on Thursday that the signature strikes could end "very soon".

"I think the programme will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it," Kerry said in an interview with state-run Pakistan Television.

Pressed on whether a timeline was envisaged, Kerry replied: "The president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon."

It is the first time that a senior US official has indicated that there could be a definitive end to the programme, which the CIA has in the past called an effective counter-terrorism weapon.

The statement was more than welcome in Islamabad, where the country's top diplomat Sartaj Aziz demanded a complete halt to a series of drone strikes which has recently decreased.

Kerry's comment, though was immediately downplayed by American aides.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said that the number of drone strikes had declined owing to the drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan and because of progress in curtailing the al Qaeda threat.

"Today the secretary referenced the changes that we expect to take place in that programme over the course of time, but there is no exact timeline to provide," she said in a statement.

The Secretary of State himself strayed from his television remarks when in a joint press conference with Aziz, he tackled complaints about drones by pointing the finger at al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, believed to be based in Pakistan.

"An al Qaeda leader like Al-Zawahiri is violating the sovereignty of this country. And when they attack people in mosques and blow up people in villages and market places they are violating the sovereignty of the country," he said.

'Pakistan has to overcome extremist forces'

Kerry's visit announced the resumption of strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, and he invited the newly elected Sharif to hold talks with US President Barack Obama in the autumn.

It will be the highest level talks between the two sides since January 2011, after which US troops found and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011.

In November 2011, US air strikes mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border, leading Islamabad to shut down NATO ground supply lines for seven months.

Kerry said it was time to put the relationship on a stronger footing. He said Pakistan's prosperity depends on doing more to eliminate militant havens.

"Pakistan cannot realise its full economic potential until it overcomes extremists," Kerry told the news conference.

"The choice for Pakistanis is clear: will the forces of violent extremism be allowed to grow more dominant, eventually overpowering the moderate majority?"

Kerry paid tribute to Sharif's election, which marked the first time that an elected civilian Pakistani government had completed a full term in office and handed over to another at the ballot box.

Sharif described Kerry as a "wonderful friend".

Kerry also met the outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

Taliban broke their promise

On the subject of Afghanistan, Kerry said that the "Taliban broke their word in Doha."

"They had accepted a certain set of requirements and they went back on their word."

He maintained, however, that Washington and Kabul would reach a long-term security agreement that would allow American troops to remain in the country beyond 2014.

"We're making progress, we're working on it. I am personally confident that we will have an agreement," Kerry said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspended talks on the deal in June, furious that a Taliban liaison office in Qatar appeared to have been opened as an embassy for a government in waiting.

"Let me be clear: the US is drawing down not withdrawing," Kerry said.

There are concerns that a complete departure of foreign troops in late 2014 could leave Afghan government troops too weak to contain a Taliban insurgency and possibly see the country slide back into civil war.