Pakistan asks US to share information about Ayman al-Zawahiri

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday asked the United States (US) to share intelligence information with Pakistan on presence of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.

The Foreign Minister while speaking to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement in India said that there was no information about the Al-Qaeda chief.

She observed, “Al-Qaeda is a mutual enemy of Pakistan and the US”. She was of the opinion that Pakistan could look into the matter accordingly if the US share information about the presence of Ayman al Zawahiri inside the Pakistani territory.

She also briefed the parliamentary panel on the issue of attack by the US unmanned aircrafts in Pakistan’s tribal areas and the Parliament’s recommendation on the bilateral ties.

The relations between the two states had been on standstill after NATO attacks on Salala check-posts that had killed 24 Pakistani troops.

She informed the panel that talks between Pakistan and America in light of the revised terms of engagement were still in process and may take some time to settle. There was no halt in the talks and the impression of failure was wrong, she asserted.

Khar was of the opinion that the US administration will hopefully respect the recommendations of Pakistani Parliament, which have been directly associated to the stoppage of drone attacks in the Tribal Areas.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is in India these days, said that the United States believes al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri is somewhere in Pakistan.

She asserted, “There are several significant leaders still on the run. Zawahiri, who inherited the leadership from bin Laden is somewhere, we believe, in Pakistan”.

Pakistani Parliament had passed a unanimous resolution setting new terms and conditions for the reopening of supply-line for the allied forces battling in Afghanistan. Pakistan had linked the reopening of supply routes to stoppage of drone attacks.

Pakistan had recently condemned a drone strike in North Waziristan, while the US had said that it will continue to launch drone strikes against militants even if the Pakistani government opposes it.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=21658

Posted by Faisal Farooq on May 7 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.