Pakistan's parliament has threatened to
withdraw the transit facility used by Afghan-bound NATO forces in case
of continued US drone attacks in the country's tribal areas, signalling
a widening rift between Islamabad and Washington.
A resolution adopted during a joint session of parliament condemned the
US drone campaign, and called for a review of its working agreement
with Washington, demanded an independent investigation and ordered the
immediate end of drone attacks along its border region, the CNN
reports. The resolution said that failure to end unilateral US raids and drone attacks will force Pakistan to "to consider taking necessary steps, including withdrawal of (the) transit facility" used by the NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
During a long joint session held to debate the US' unilateral military operation against Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden inside Pakistani territory, the parliamentarians called for an independent investigation into the raid that killed the world's most wanted terrorist.
US lawmakers have questioned how bin Laden managed to live in plain sight near Pakistan's elite military academy for years without being detected. However, publicly, leaders in both countries have downplayed a rift.
But the unanimous resolution made clear there was a growing dissatisfaction among Pakistani lawmakers, said the report, adding that the resolution also ordered a review of its counter-terrorism cooperation agreement with the United States.
The government is deeply "distress(ed) on the campaign to malign Pakistan, launched by certain quarters in other countries without appreciating Pakistan's determined efforts and immense sacrifices in combating terror," the resolution said.
It also said that over 30,000 Pakistani civilians and more than 5,000 military personnel had been killed in its war on terror "and the blowback emanating from actions of the NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan."
Anger in Pakistan over US drone strikes has mounted during the past year after it stepped up efforts to eliminate terrorists hiding along the Pakistani-Afghan border. (ANI)
