WASHINGTON:
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States said Pakistan will re-open its border crossing with Afghanistan to US-led forces once it is confident of security.
Pakistan said on Thursday that it was closing the Torkham border crossing -- vital to supply US troops in Afghanistan -- after Nato helicopters killed three Pakistani troops on their own side of the border.
"I think as soon as we can ensure the security of the convoys moving through the Khyber Pass, we will have them moving again," Haqqani said on CNN. Haqqani said that Pakistan ordered the closure for security reasons due to public outrage over the killing of the troops. "In a situation like that, if the supplies were continuing, there would have been a possibility that there may have been a security situation that we had to deal with," Haqqani said.
Gunmen on Friday torched more than two dozen trucks in southern Pakistan that were set to carry fuel and supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, said earlier on Friday that he expected a resolution soon and that limited traffic was moving through the border at a slower pace. Nato has pledged an investigation into the incident but said it acted in self-defense after its helicopters came under fire from the ground. Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment is rife, has been sensitive about its sovereignty as it provides access to US forces in Afghanistan.
On Friday, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani demanded an apology from the Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan for repeated violations of Pakistan’s airspace by their helicopters and said that his government will go beyond “diplomatic condemnation” and use “other options” if cross-border strikes continued.
COMMENTS (6)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ