Pakistan seeks Saudi aid on US strikes

[Shazi76]

Pakistani government has urged Saudi Arabia to exert pressure on the United States to halt the unauthorized drone attacks that have claimed the lives of many civilians in tribal regions.


“Yes, we are seeking support from not only Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but also the entire international community to convince the US that drone attacks were impeding rather than helping the war against terrorism,” Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said on Friday.

Earlier, Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had asked a number of governments around the world to support Pakistan in its efforts to halt the deadly strikes carried out without a UN mandate, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Thousands of outraged Pakistanis held sit-ins for a second day in Peshawar on Sunday to protest against the drone strikes, blocking roads used by trucks that were carrying supplies for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Speaking to protesters, the chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan warned that they will hold massive rallies against the government if it fails to take a firm stance against the unsanctioned drone strikes.

Washington has claimed that the attacks target pro-Taliban militants but, in reality, more than 2,000 civilians have lost their lives since the drone attacks started in 2008.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said “drone missiles cause collateral damage. A few militants are killed, but the majority of victims are innocent citizens."

Prominent US-based public policy research organization, The Brookings Institute, suggests that drone attacks may kill “10 or more civilians” for every militant killed.