Who is feeding distorted info to the media?
Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Within a few days of the adoption of a unanimous resolution by parliament seeking complete review of Pak-US relations to safeguard the sovereignty of Pakistan, some elements in the government and the military establishment have moved to thwart the will of parliament by feeding the media with distorted information to score points with Washington.
On Monday when Senator John Kerry was holding a series of meetings with the top Pakistani authorities the media was fed with two stories none of which could be confirmed. One of these stories talked about a “formal apology” tendered by Washington over Monday’s drone strike in North Waziristan in breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty. The other story talks about the return of 375 US officials including Washington’s covert operatives after the May 2 incident.
None of these stories could be confirmed but they served the interest of Washington instead of Pakistan and its Parliament. Foreign Office spokesman Ms Tehmina Janjua said she has no knowledge of any apology tendered by Washington to Pakistan. While talking to The News she agreed that in case of a formal apology the most relevant institution is the Foreign Office, which did not receive any such apology or regrets from the United States.
The ISPR when approached referred the question to the Foreign Office. The ISPR said that such apologies are exchanged between the governments for which the FO would be in a position to say anything.
Senator Kerry told Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other officials in Islamabad on Monday that the United States need not apologise to Pakistan for the raid but that it was in both countries’ best interest to mend the frayed relationship, a report on the CNN web site said.
The US embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez when approached to ascertain if the United States has formally tendered an apology to Pakistan over Monday’s drone strikes in North Waziristan, instead of confirming or denying it said in a written reply, “We have seen reports that quote an unnamed source in Islamabad. We have no additional information on this.”
Asked if such drone attacks would not be carried out in future unless permitted by the government of Pakistan, Alberto again responded vaguely: “We cannot comment on particular tactics, technology, or operations in the fight against violent extremist groups. No nation has suffered from terrorism as much as Pakistan. We are committed to working with and supporting the people and government of Pakistan as they defend their democracy from violent extremism.”
He offered the same answer to another question whether the US drones policy (of striking inside Pakistani territory) has changed following the unanimous resolution adopted by Parliament.
On Monday a private television channel also ran a story quoting unnamed defence source to assert that 375 US diplomats and officials have returned to the US following the post-May 2 Army Chief’s decision to cut down the presence of US military and intelligence officials.
There is no official word available on these reports, however, officials sources do not confirm that such a huge number of US officials have been sent back since May 2. It is said that many US officials might have returned on their own because of the post-May 2 tensions but the figure of 375 is too high to believe.
According to a senior journalist, after the unanimous resolution adopted by Parliament some authorities have started giving background briefings to journalists to underline the importance of Pak-US relations for Islamabad.
It is ironic that despite a clear “No” by the country’s Parliament to US influence in setting the contours of Pakistan’s foreign policy and in spite of Parliament’s unanimous voice to protect the sovereignty of the country, overt efforts are being made to pre-empt the much required review of the Pak-US post-9/11 counter-terrorism cooperation.
Within a few days of the adoption of the unanimous resolution, which also demanded immediate halt of the drone attacks and sought the stoppage of supply line of Nato forces in Afghanistan, the US drones hit twice in North Waziristan. And after Monday’s “secret” and unconfirmed US apology, the Nato gunship helicopters entered Pakistani airspace and fired at Pakistan security officials on Tuesday. Two security officials were injured as a result of this attack.
Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who played pivotal role in re-drafting a forceful resolution that was ultimately adopted, said on Tuesday that the original resolution drafted by the government was spineless. According to one source, some top rulers and key ministers and ambassadors are not happy with the tone and tenor of the resolution.
Source: The News
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