ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Cameron Munter called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday and conveyed his government’s resolve to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the killing of 24 Pakistani security personnel in unprovoked Nato air strikes in Mohmand Agency.
He informed the president that a senior air force officer had been appointed to hold the probe. In the one-to-one meeting, the president is reported to have communicated the government’s stance over the Nato action.
President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar did not give details of what transpired in the meeting and confined himself to a brief statement: “The US ambassador called on President Zardari at Presidency and Pakistan-US bilateral relations were discussed during the meeting.”
Sources told Dawn the US envoy conveyed a message from his government and expressed sorrow over the killing of Pakistani soldiers.
The president informed him that the government would implement the decisions of Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) which include suspension of Nato supplies and taking back the control of Shamsi airbase in Balochistan leased out in 1992 to the United Arab Emirates and sublet to the US to conduct drone attacks in tribal areas.
The president said Pakistan had rendered more sacrifices than any other country in the war against terror but the government, army and the people had reservations over the attack.
The sources said the president apprised the US envoy about a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relation director-general Maj-Gen Athar Abbas that Nato’s regional headquarters in Afghanistan had been contacted during the strikes but no action was taken to stop the provocative action.
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