ANP chief furious at NATO strikes

Asfandyar Wali Khan asks the government to lodge a strong protest with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)

PESHAWAR:

Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has asked the government to lodge a strong protest with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) over repeated violations of Pakistan’s air space by Nato helicopters.

“Several times Nato forces crossed into Pakistan and targeted innocent people. It’s the responsibility of the Afghan government not to allow coalition forces to use their land against Pakistan,” Khan told a news conference in Peshawar on Friday. He described the Nato attacks on Pakistan’s soil as clear violation of international law and a blow to Pakistan’s sovereignty.

About the recent flooding, the ANP chief said that he has asked the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to speed up rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the devastated areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Asked about the apparent confrontation between the judiciary and the executive, Khan said: “The government should respect the court ruling in the NRO case.” However, he added that the system could function smoothly if all institutions work within their own parameters.

When quizzed on the notorious Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), he said that it could not be abolished as some people in tribal regions are strongly opposed to its abolition.

The ANP supremo also condemned the conviction of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui by a US court, calling it an “inhuman verdict.”

He also condemned repeated incidents of target killings in Karachi but said that his party has yet not decided to quit the coalition government in Sindh in protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2010.