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The media and Iran: familiar mindlessness PAGE 14
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pakistantoday.com.pk
rs15.00 Vol ii no 152 22 pages lahore edition
Pakistan refuses to unblock NATO supply
monday, 28 november, 2011 muharram-ul-haram 2, 1432
NATO scrambles to contain pakistan fallout
PESHAWAR: Soldiers carry the coffins of their comrades who were killed in a NATO strike, during their funeral on Sunday. Afp
BRUSSELS AFP
Asks US, allies for formal apology for Mohmand attack g Panetta, Clinton express grief g Protest also lodged with Afghan government g
ISLAMABAD
P
SHAIQ HUSSAIN
AKISTAN refused on Sunday to accept the request by the United States and its allied states to unblock supplies to Afghanistan for the coalition forces before a formal apology coupled with a thorough enquiry into the cross-border NATO air strike in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed, as well as stern punishment for those involved in the attack. Islamabad also told the US that the killing of Pakistani soldiers had deeply impacted the progress made by the two countries on improving relations and forced Pakistan to revisit its terms of engagement with the US. Islamabad’s refusal came despite the fact that the US secretary of state, foreign secretaries of other NATO nations and the NATO chief himself expressed grief over the loss of life in the attack.
NATO supplies stopped permanently: Malik ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
In what seems to be a major policy shift vis-à-vis the country’s support to the allied forces stationed in Afghanistan for the war against terrorism, the Pakistan government said on Sunday that the supply of NATO forces had not been suspended but stopped permanently and NATO containers that had been stopped would not be allowed to cross the border into Afghanistan. Talking to reporters at the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of the Interior Ministry, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said NATO supplies through the country had been stopped permanently. He strongly Continued on page 04 condemned the NATO attack on Pakistani forces, saying such outrage at nato attaCk | page 02 attacks were unacceptable.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi joins pTI Former FM says Pakistan’s N-programme not safe under Zardari g Imran urges govt to pull out of US-led war on terror g
GHOTKI ONLINE
Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told thousands of supporters and followers at a public gathering in Ghotki on Sunday that he has joined the Imran Khanled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). “I have joined the party that is working towards justice and change. I am now part of Imran Khan’s party,” he announced. Qureshi had sought to keep his future political plans secret after resigning from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) but the decision did not come as a surprise, as Imran Khan had declared weeks ago that Qureshi would end up in his party. Qureshi told the crowd that the time had come to for fresh general elections. The National Assembly, he said, was not functioning according
to the aspirations of the people. “It is time for this government to go,” he said. Qureshi said he stepped down as the country’s foreign minister in a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on the Raymond Davis fiasco. The former foreign minister said Pakistan’s nuclear programme was not safe in the presence of Zardari and said he would reveal more about the nuclear programme at the PTI’s next public meeting in Karachi. Qureshi said further that President Zardari had said he would not be allowed to hold a rally in Ghotki, however Ghotki did not belong to Zardari but to the Sindhi people. Continued on page 04
Qureshi joining pti a serious blow to ‘n’ | page 04 ppp Calls Qureshi’s entry ‘unimportant’ | page 03
NATO moved Sunday to contain the damage from the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers, seeking to soothe Islamabad’s rage against the US and its military allies in Afghanistan over the air strike. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stopped short of issuing a full apology to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for the “tragic, unintended” killings, which he deemed “regrettable”. An official said allies had sought to ascertain “exactly what was meant” by Pakistan’s public position and to prevent lasting damage from the suspension of supply lines for Afghanistan and an order for US troops to leave a secretive air base in Pakistan. “I have written to the prime minister of Pakistan to make it clear that the deaths of Pakistani personnel are as unacceptable and deplorable as the deaths of Afghan and international personnel,” Rasmussen said in a statement, deeming the strike “a tragic unintended incident”. Pakistan conveyed its “rage” to the United States over the incident. An ISAF investigation into the incident is likely to ask whether Afghan and American troops on the Afghan side of the border were fired upon first - whether by insurgents or Pakistani military. “I fully support the ISAF investigation which is currently underway,” Rasmussen said of the ISAF fighting the war and which includes non-NATO allies. “We will determine what happened, and draw the right lessons,” Rasmussen added. WESTERN OFFICIAL: Meanwhile, a Western official and a senior Afghan security official claimed on Sunday that NATO and Afghan forces came under fire from across the border with Pakistan before NATO aircraft attacked the Pakistani army post.