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Unilateral US actions harm ties: Sharif

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s main opposition leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif on Saturday told the US envoy that actions like US operation in Abbotabad and continued drone attacks in tribal belt harm bilateral relations.

US Ambassador Cameron Munter called on Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif at his residence in Raiwind, Lahore, on Saturday.
The party sources said the two leaders discussed the political situation in the aftermath of the US operation in Abbottabad in which Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed. Ambassador Munter underlined the need to have a better relationship between the two countries. He also said that Pakistan and the US should continue to make a joint effort on the ‘war on terror’.
Sharif concurred with Munter on the need for good relations between the US and Pakistan, but said that events like the Abbottabad operation and the ongoing drone attacks harm relations between the two countries.
The meeting was a move by the US to reach out to various politicians and to take the opposition into confidence over the Abbottabad operation and the subsequent strain on Pak-US relations.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Sharif said that the PML-N has adopted tough stance over the US unilateral actions in the larger national interest and to underpin the nation’s right to know all facts.
He said the resolution initially presented by the government in Parliament was very weak. The PML-N revised the resolution and requested for an independent commission in which the chief justices would be part of the inquiry. He said the government agreed to the commission proposal after much deliberation and said the members of the commission, its modalities and mandate will be defined unanimously.
Sharif said the prime minister and leader of the opposition would decide the composition of commission and it will mention the issues about drone attacks and the halting of Nato supplies.
mafzalkhan@yahoo.com

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