ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the US charge d'affaires to the foreign ministry to convey its "serious concerns" over drone strikes, a ministry statement said, a move that could further escalate tensions between the allies.
The move came after Pakistani intelligence officials said that a US drone strike may have killed an al Qaeda leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi, in Pakistan's northwest.
Drone attacks are a major sticking point in talks aimed at improving ties between Washington and Islamabad.
The foreign ministry had earlier called the attacks “illegal” and said they violated the country’s sovereignty.
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US should take this as the last Final warning'..
Shoot down the drone, if you can. Actions speak louder than words.
What US is doing is very wrong.
Killing terrorists is important but they should not kill innocent people
"SERIOUS CONCERN" .....Is this due to incursion of Pak-airspace by Drones, or is it due to elimination of Strategic Assets one by one?
One article says "US confirms death of AQ No2 by a drone strike" Next article says "Pakistan conveys serious concerns about drone strike" Could somebody explain why Pak should have "Serious concerns" about death of AQ No2 by a drone ?? Is it that the drone killed only No 2 and not the new No 1.
Well done the drone. By the way what this man was doing there. All the notorious people have gathered here to tarnish the name of Pakistan. Look the foolish govt. of Pakistan which is protesting without knowing that the world is watching us. May God guide this foolish Govt.
Yes, we should shoot down those drones. Do it to ti, now.
Its very simple. Drones will stop if Pakistan catches the terrorists. If they are living in safe houses, what do you expect others to do?
@ Malik Hamza
So your going to fight your way into the tribal territories lugging your multi million SAM systems to ward off drone attacks? Since the people your going to have to defeat to safely place your SAM's are likely the people that the drones are targeting I suspect the American's would endorse your idea -- might even fund it.
This Government is soo fake its unreal. Foreign Minister serious concern i think that these Drone strickes would not happen in Pakistan if Gialani saab didnt tell Obama that you continue with your drone strikes ans we will fool the public. The real culprit is this Governement . It's not USA fault if this goverment has agreed to these strikes in Pakistan.
If our soo called government has gharat then they would have logged an appeal to the United Nations court and if these strikes continue then ask the army to get the drones down. We have the capablity to fire surafce to air missiles and in minutes the drones will be submerged in mountains of Pakistan, then we will see if the USA the superpower can afford to send another MULTI MILLION DOLLAR DRONE TO Pakistan ?
US will keep on striking Pakistan's territory and Pakistan will keep on conveying "serious concerns" over the drone attacks.
It is time for Pakistan to destroy US drones one after another as soon as they violate Pakistan air space until such time when US drone attacks in Pakistan will come to a complete halt.
There is no need to be scared of any type repercussion from US.
In case of any military aggression on Pakistan, the nation should be ready and stand behind the armed forces of Pakistan to fight with the US forces, irrespective of what result may come up.
We must learn to live like a lion in the world.
@Sexton Blake
Agreed - and it should be noted that all 5 members of the Security Council have the same reservation about Muslim extremist. So long as the US is targeting those extremist it's unlikely that they will take any action against the drone attacks. No one wants to take a position that a country can look the other way why extremist use it's territory to attack it's neighbors - after all we all have neighbors and no one wants to be the recipient of militants hiding next door.
@Solomon2: Dear Solomon2, You did not get it quite right. The U.N. Security Council is is not the U.N. Further, the UNSCR 1373 resolution was carried out in secret. It lasted for three minutes, and nobody is sure who submitted it, but surprise, surprise, it was thought to be America, and there is no record of the meeting. My reading of resolution 1373 indicates that it does not give America permission to bomb other countries willy-nilly, and in fact the U.S appears to be acting illegally by bombing Pakistan. The main purpose of resolution 1373 is to ratify international agreements on combating terrorism. Pakistan has agreed and is doing more to combat terrorism in South Asia than anyone else. The last thing Pakistan needs is political fallout from its citizens as a result of America killing innocent men, women and children as well as massive destruction of infrastructure. It should also be kept in mind that the U.N. Security Council only has five permanent members, and they are the ones who really make all the decisions. Also, it should come as no surprise that any decisions made are in the best interests of the five members.
@Mob.: While condemning US drone attacks, one should also look inwards and question Pakistanis who serve in planting the drones' GPS mechanism to cars used by the murdered victims. One story says that each installation earns US$5000? Aren't these people guilty of collaborating with a foreign army? So why just jail Dr Afridi?
"If the government is really serious, and undoubtedly it should be, then this matter should be taken to the United nations. "
@Abdul Rahman Khan: It's been done, and the U.N. Security Council supports the U.S. position. Haven't you wondered at the absence of supporting voices for Pakistan? UNSCR 1373 mandates Pakistan to root out terrorists as a sovereign obligation. It's been over ten years and Pakistan has failed to do so. So under UNSCR 1373 Pakistan has no sovereign grounds for complaint when others attack terrorists on its territory.
Why don't more Pakistanis know more about this? Probably because UNSCR 1373's enforcement arm, the Counter Terrorism Committee, has classified country compliance reports since 2006. If the FM had continued to complain perhaps those records would have been released...
Do u think USA or any respectable soverign country would allow such attacks?? They would b shooting them down!!!!!!
@ Abdul Rehman sir Jee drone strikes are validated by UNO.
A decade from now Pakistan will still be condemning the drone attacks. If they're serious they should shoot down the drones.
Mere condemnation of american drone attacks will not stop them. Such condemnation statements by the PPP government are eyewash to befool the pakistani nation. If the government is really serious, and undoubtedly it should be, then this matter should be taken to the United nations. However, there are reports that zardari-gilani duo have given go-ahead signal to the americans to carry on the attacks and that they will only condemn them which shouldn't be taken seriously.
all previous govts and this present govt are responsible for our country to be a slave of US but kudos must be given to this govt to start saying something positive even if it is all in vain in the end but that may not be the result given the fact China seems to be looking over us now!
Has'nt this guy been killed many times before. Or may be it was my previous life, on an another planet or in another dimension :->
could this shameless govt do anything else?
as if this will affect them by any means....