KARACHI: Federal Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar
rejecting the US accusations said there would not have been an attack
on our Naval base if there were contacts between the security
establishment and Haqqani network.
"Taliban could not have
attacked our GoC if we had any links with them," defence minister told
the media after ASF exercises in Karachi. Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar termed
the allegations levelled by the US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Committee about Pakistan links with the Haqqani network ‘contradictory
to reality’.
“At this time, it is difficult for America to move
away from Pakistan and we too need them... We have had a relationship
with them from the 1940s and do not want to end that,” Mr Mukhtar said.
He said that the United States should work with Pakistan against
the Haqqani network. “Our general has been targeted in the border area,
if we have links with the network this type of incident does not
happen”, he said and added “ I think US government and the army’s
approach is different”.
The defence minister said that Mehran Base attack probe has been completed and a report in this regard would be prepared soon.
Relations
between both the countries have become once again strained after Mike
Mullen’s accused Pakistani government and its power full secret agency
Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of using Haqqani
network to wage proxy war against the US to secure a stake in
Afghanistan after the forces drawdown. Online
