Saturday 30 April 2011

Pakistan accuses US of 'negative propaganda'

Pakistan accuses US of 'negative propaganda'

The Pakistan Army has accused the United States of waging a campaign of "negative propaganda" over its role in the war on al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Its claim was made in a military statement criticising comments by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) had maintained a relationship with the Haqqani network – one of the deadliest factions in the Taliban's Afghan insurgency.
During a visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, Admiral Mullen said continuing links between the ISI and the Haqqani network, which attacks Nato troops in Afghanistan from safe havens in North Waziristan, are a cause of "continuing strain" in relations between the two countries.

"Haqqani is supporting, funding, training fighters that are killing Americans and killing coalition partners. And I have a sacred obligation to do all I can to make sure that doesn't happen," he told a television interviewer.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated significantly earlier this year following the arrest of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who shot dead two men he believed were trying to rob him as he drove his car through a Lahore suburb. There has been disagreement too over an increase in missile attacks in North Waziristan by American Predator drones.

In a statement released by Pakistan's military spokesman, its chief of army staff, General Ashfaq Kayani was quoted rejecting criticism of its commitment to fighting militants.

According to the statement, "the Pakistan army's ongoing operations are a testimony of our national resolve to defeat terrorism. He (Kayani) strongly rejected negative propaganda of Pakistan not doing enough and Pakistanarmy's lack of clarity on the way forward."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8466527/Pakistan-accuses-US-of-negative-propaganda.html

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