Kerry defends Hakimullah's killing, says sensitive to Pakistan concerns

Kerry says US intends to work with Pakistan through the strategic dialogue through challenges.

RIYADH: US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday defended last week’s drone strike that killed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief but insisted that Washington was sensitive to any Pakistani concerns, after Islamabad denounced the attack as a blow to peace talks.

Hakimullah Mehsud, who took over as the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban in 2009, was killed on Friday, along with three others, in a US drone strike in North Waziristan.

Pakistan denounced Mehsud's killing, mere hours before a peace delegation was due to travel to Waziristan for staging talks, as a US bid to derail peace talks and summoned the US ambassador on Saturday to complain. On Monday, the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly unanimously approved a resolution that set a 15 day deadline for the Federal government to halt drone strikes before the ground US and Nato military supply lines to and from Afghanistan would be blocked.

Kerry said that while he welcomed any discussions "we are sensitive to the concerns of the country and we look forward to working very closely with the government of Pakistan."

"We intend to continue to work together with them [Pakistanis] through the strategic dialogue that we have established in order to work through these kinds of challenges."

Mehsud, whom the TTP confirmed had been killed in Friday’s drone strike, was described by Kerry as a "man who absolutely is known to have targeted and killed many Americans, many Afghans and many Pakistanis. A huge number of Pakistanis have died at the hands of Mehsud and his terrorist organisation."