Drone attacks core irritant : Foreign Office Spokesperson

ISLAMABAD: Describing the continuing drone attacks as a “core irritant”, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua on Thursday said that Pakistan was approaching “friendly countries concerned about counter terrorism to prevail upon the United States to stop such attacks”. Addressing the weekly press briefing, the FO spokesperson, however, stopped short of revealing the identities of such ‘friendly’ countries.

Janjua’s comments came after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s announcement on Wednesday that Pakistan was engaging friendly countries to exert diplomatic pressure on the US to stop the drone attacks in the tribal Areas.

“Yesterday [Wednesday], we underscored that drone attacks have become a ‘core irritant’ in the counter-terrorism campaign,” Janjua told the media. “We have taken up the issue of the attacks with the US government at all levels. As per the prime minister’s comments, we want to discuss this issue with friendly countries that have an interest in counter-terrorism as part of an effort by the Government of Pakistan to address this core irritant in the counter-terrorism campaign. We have also taken up this issue consistently with the US administration.”

As expected, Janjua was inundated with questions about the Wednesday’s US drone strike, which killed seven people in South Waziristan. The strike came immediately after a key ISI-CIA meeting in Washington in which Pakistan complained about the unilateral drone strikes while the CIA spelt out its own national security requirements, which made these air strikes indispensable.

The spokesperson was reluctant to get into the specifics of the drone attacks and whether Pakistan had the political will to revisit a policy inherited from the Musharraf regime. “I will not get into any discussions with regard to speculative reporting. The only point I would like to reiterate is that discussions between the two governments on issues relating to counter-terrorism take place in the context of the law enforcement and counter-terrorism track,” said Janjua. “As far as Pakistan is concerned, we have made our position very clear.”

Janjua was also questioned about the rare move in March 2011 when General Officer Commanding 7-Division, Maj-Gen Ghayur Mehmood, said most of those killed by drone attacks were hardcore Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, and not civilians. From Janjua’s response, it was clear that the Foreign Office and the armed forces are not on the same page on this issue.

When asked if the FO would revisit its policy on drone attacks, in light of Ghayur’s comments, the spokesperson replied in true diplomatic fashion: “Our position on the drone attacks has been repeatedly and clearly stated by the leadership, by the President of Pakistan, and by the Prime Minister to every US dignitary who visits Pakistan. The Prime Minister spoke about it yesterday in parliament. I do not need to comment further on this issue”.

Courtesy WikiLeaks, we know that the prime minister clearly told then US ambassador Anne W. Patterson that “I don’t care if they [the US/CIA] do it [carry out drone attacks] as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.” When asked about this, Janjua brushed aside questions about the government’s position of supporting the drones privately and bemoaning them publicly: “The position of the Government of Pakistan on the drone attacks is very clear,” she repeated.

The spokesperson was also reluctant to comment on the presence of CIA agents inside Pakistan and on how the ISI planned to deal with this situation in the aftermath of the Raymond Davis episode. “I would refrain from commenting on this question. The only thing I would like to state is that Pakistan attaches immense importance to its relations with the US, with whom we have a multi-track engagement. Law enforcement and counter-terrorism is one such track. All discussions with regard to counter-terrorism take place within the context of the law enforcement and counter-terrorism track,” she said.

In response to a query about Pakistan’s demand to acquire drone technology while it was protesting drone attacks, Janjua replied, “This is an operational detail that I should not go into. The question should be put to the ISPR. But yes, we have consistently said that the US should share intelligence and drone technology with us. The issue is not to target innocent civilian Pakistanis and for this we need to figure out how to use the technology effectively to deal with terrorists.”

On India-Pakistan relations, the spokesperson reiterated that the government continues to be focused on ensuring that the dialogue with India proceedes smoothly. “As far as the Government of Pakistan is concerned, we are focused on ensuring a sustained and result-oriented engagement with India. Mohali gave an impetus to the engagement.”

The spokesperson, however, rubbished Indian media reports that Chinese troops were stationed along the LOC. “This is totally incorrect and, I would add, a little ridiculous”, she said. “

In a rare slip of the tongue, when questioned about whether Iran had served a demarche to Pakistan’s ambassador, Janjua replied, “I don’t know what a demarche is.” Reportedly, Pakistan’s ambassador was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry and a protest was made regarding the involvement of Pakistani ex-military men in quelling pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.

“We have very good relations with Iran,” said the spokesperson. “We discuss all issues in a very friendly manner. So we should avoid speculation in this regard.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that a Pakistani embassy official had suffered multiple wounds when an unidentified gunman in Kathmandu shot him on Thursday. “We have taken up the issue with the Government of Nepal”, said the spokesperson. Reports coming in from the Nepali capital say Mehboob Asif received injuries in his stomach and hand but was declared ‘out of danger’ by hospital authorities.