WASHINGTON, Dec 1: A senior US lawmaker has urged the US defence secretary to review Nato’s command and control protocols in Afghanistan to prevent incidents like the air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand Agency.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich also demanded reparations for the families of the soldiers killed and injured in the Nato attacks. “Accountability of those responsible for the loss of life and an impartial and transparent investigation will be critical to maintaining our vital relationship with Pakistan,” he said.

Reports in the US media on Thursday said the State Department also advised President Barack Obama to offer formal condolences to the families of the slain soldiers but the White House decided not to do so.

In a letter to US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, which was released to the press, Congressman Kucinich called for a “full and transparent investigation” of the attack on sovereign Pakistani territory and demanded a full review of “command and control protocols” which led to the disaster.

“We cannot be successful in securing peace and security in the region alone. I urge you to ensure full US participation in and cooperation with a full, impartial and transparent investigation into the air strikes,” he wrote. “It is critical that those in the Nato and the International Security Assistance Force be held accountable for any actions that may have resulted in the death of 24 innocent Pakistani soldiers,” Mr Kucinich said. The response of the US to the attack, he said, would be critical to maintaining America’s vital relationship with Pakistan and to the security of its troops in Afghanistan.

“As you know, Saturday’s air strikes that resulted in the death of 24 innocent Pakistani soldiers has further strained the US-Pakistan relationship and increased anti-US sentiment abroad,” he said. Reports indicate that US-led coalition forces operating in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for reprisal attacks.

Senator John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged both Pakistan and the US to look at the larger picture. “We all appreciate how deeply this tragedy has affected the Pakistani people, and we have conveyed our heartfelt condolences through multiple channels,” he said.

“Ultimately, the only way to move the ball forward is to focus on areas where our interests align and where we can really make progress. Our two countries need each other.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the White House advised President Obama not to send personal condolences to Pakistan. In doing so, the White House over-ruled State Department officials who argued that a show of remorse would help salvage America’s relationship with Pakistan.

According to these reports, Cameron Munter, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, told a group of White House officials that a formal video statement from Mr Obama was needed to help prevent the rapidly deteriorating relations between Islamabad and Washington from plunging further.

The ambassador, speaking by videoconference from Islamabad, said that anger in Pakistan had reached a fever pitch, and that the US needed to move to defuse it as quickly as possible, the officials recalled.

But officials at the US Defence Department advised the White House not to do so, arguing that condolences offered by Secretary Hillary Clinton and other senior State Department officials were enough.

Some at the White House also said that if Mr Obama were to apologise, it could become fodder for his Republican opponents in the presidential campaign for 2012. “The US government has offered its deepest condolences for the loss of life, from the White House and from Secretary Clinton and Secretary Panetta,” said Tommy Victor, spokesman for theNational Security Council, “and we are conducting an investigation into the incident. We cannot offer additional comments on the circumstances of the incident until we have the results.”

But Vali Nasr, a former State Department official who specialises in Pakistan, told the NYT that Mr Obama should make public remarks on the border episode, including a formal apology. “Without some effective measures of defusing this issue, Pakistan will cooperate less rather than more with us, and we won’t be able to achieve our goals in Afghanistan,” hesaid.

Also on Thursday, President Obama’s former National Security Adviser James Jones told a news channel that the US had warned Pakistani leaders of dangerous consequences if there was another terrorist attack on India that originated from their soil.

Gen Jones, who was also involved in the Memogate scandal, said the message that “they should give up the policy of supporting terrorist and extremist elements” had been conveyed to Pakistani leaders several times by top US officials.