November 15, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 16, 1429

NEW YORK, Nov 14: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that US drone attacks inside the Pakistani territory are undermining efforts to win over people’s hearts and minds.

“It is undermining my (country’s) sovereignty and it is not helping win (over) the hearts and minds of people,” President Zardari told the CBS News in an interview on Friday.

Responding to a question about the increase in US strikes on Pakistani soil, the president said: “Obviously, people who (are conducting) the strikes are confident that they’re doing something. Otherwise they wouldn’t be at it.”

He said the strikes and ground raids by US forces inside the Pakistani territory were unwelcome. He said that anyone who wanted to come to Pakistan needed to have permission. So whether ground forces or air forces, they needed to have permission and if they didn’t have that, they would not be allowed, he said.

President Zardari denied that Pakistan was being provided any information about the attacks, adding that any prior information would be welcome.

He said the new US adminstration needed to let Pakistan take appropriate measures against extremist or terrorist elements on its own.“The challenge for this new administration will be to allow us to have the capability of doing more. We want to do more. It’s our war. ”

Commenting on reports that a major terrorist attack was being planned in the tribal areas, President Zardari said: “I can assure the American people that nothing like that is going to happen in my watch.”

The president categorically stated that Pakistan would not allow its tribal areas to be used to stage any terrorist attack against the US.

He however said: “There’s always a danger of them (terrorists). I didn’t know that they’d be successful in getting my wife. We thought we’d (be able to) protect her but we couldn’t. But to say we’d allow it to happen. No (that is not possible).” —APP