ISLAMABAD: The PPP has expressed disappointment over revelations that the National Security Agency of the United States was spying on the party in 2010.

Describing the act as a violation of international laws, the PPP leadership has urged the government to take up the issue at the diplomatic level to seek guarantees that such grave violations do not take place in future.

“The revelation of spying on a major political party of Pakistan is a grave, unwarranted and totally unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country and is condemnable,” PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said in a statement.

He said the PPP was proud of its record of acting in supreme national interest and owed no explanation to any foreign agency. No country, regardless of its might and power, had any right to spy on it.

He said such insensitive operations and unacceptable interference in the affairs of a political party of a sovereign country would serve no purpose other than increasing resentment and distrust.

“Those who have violated the norms of responsible behaviour by spying on the political institutions of a sovereign country owe an apology,” Mr Babar added.

PPP’s Additional Secretary General Senator Raza Rabbani said the act had exposed the US claim of supporting democratic forces in the developing world, adding that it further confirmed the historical suspicion that international imperialism and reactionary forces were part of the conspiracy against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2014