WASHINGTON, Jan 26: Pakistan on Thursday protested a Washington Post editorial which urges the US government to continue to bomb suspected terrorist targets inside Pakistan.

In the editorial, ‘The war in Pakistan’ published on Jan 25, the Post urges the US government to bomb the territory of a sovereign nation and ‘thus flout the international law with impunity,’ said a statement issued by the Pakistan embassy in Washington.

“I am sure the US government will not pay any heed to it because the US administration is in perfect harmony with the Pakistan leadership and its role as a frontline state against the war on terror,” the statement said.

The embassy recalled that on March 8, 2005, President Bush told a gathering at the National Defence University: “We are more secure because Pakistani forces captured more than 100 extremists across the country last year, including operatives who were plotting attacks against the United States.

“One fails to understand whether your editorial will help in the fight against terror because the flouting of the United Nations charter and the international law will not be appreciated by the public opinion in the United States and the world at large.”

Referring to the newspaper’s allegation that Pakistan had allowed ‘Islamic extremists’ groups to carry out attacks against India, the embassy stressed that Pakistan opened up the whole Azad Jammu and Kashmir territory to international relief agencies for carrying out relief operations after the Oct 8 earthquake.

“Had there been any such group in Pakistan, the government would have not allowed charity organizations and UN agencies to function in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”

The embassy reminded the Post that the Indian government did not allow the same relief organizations to function in held Kashmir for ‘obvious reasons.’

“It is Pakistan’s declared policy that it opposes terrorism in its all forms and manifestations. Pakistan, by conviction and choice, is the coalition partner of the international community formed against global terrorism because we believe that terrorists know no boundaries and they are engaged in destabilizing the whole world. We view them as a threat to international peace and security,” the statement said.

The embassy reminded the Post that despite its huge resources, the US administration has not been able to restore normalcy in Iraq.