War on Terror
Marriott blast message: US must stop raids inside Pak
By Indranil Banerjie
American newspapers subsequently reported that US President George Bush had authorised special forces operating in Afghanistan to cross the border to attack targets within Pakistani territory if required. Quoting senior US officials, these reports said that this order contravened the agreement with the Pakistani Army that no cross border raid would take place without the prior approval of the Pakistani government. The reports were confirmed when the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, at a Congressional hearing in Washington, said that US forces in Afghanistan would revise their strategy to target "safe havens" within Pakistan. America’s public radio service, NPR, reported that the Bush administration has approved a three-phase plan to capture top Al Qaeda leaders and had authorised military strikes inside Pakistan. The report maintained that this was an "11th-hour effort to hammer Al Qaeda" before the Bush administration left office. The suggestion that the Pakistani Army had approved all this was forcefully contested by its Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who rejected US claims that the rules of engagement gave Coalition Forces in Afghanistan the right to enter Pakistan. He declared that the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs. "There is no question of any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border," he declared.
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5:01 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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