Embassy Protests against
Editorial
Washington,
DC: Pakistan last Thursday protested a Washington Post editorial
which urges the US government to continue to bomb suspected
terrorist targets inside Pakistan.
In the editorial, ‘The war in Pakistan’ published
on Jan 25, the Post urges the US government to bomb the territory
of a sovereign nation and ‘thus flout the international
law with impunity,’ said a statement issued by the Pakistan
embassy in Washington.
“I am sure the US government will not pay any heed to
it because the US administration is in perfect harmony with
the Pakistan leadership and its role as a frontline state
against the war on terror,” the statement said.
The embassy recalled that on March 8, 2005, President Bush
told a gathering at the National Defence University: “We
are more secure because Pakistani forces captured more than
100 extremists across the country last year, including operatives
who were plotting attacks against the United States.
“One fails to understand whether your editorial will
help in the fight against terror because the flouting of the
United Nations charter and the international law will not
be appreciated by the public opinion in the United States
and the world at large.”
Referring to the newspaper’s allegation that Pakistan
had allowed ‘Islamic extremists’ groups to carry
out attacks against India, the embassy stressed that Pakistan
opened up the whole Azad Jammu and Kashmir territory to international
relief agencies for carrying out relief operations after the
Oct 8 earthquake.
“Had there been any such group in Pakistan, the government
would have not allowed charity organizations and UN agencies
to function in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”
The embassy reminded the Post that the Indian government did
not allow the same relief organizations to function in held
Kashmir for “obvious reasons.”
“It is Pakistan’s declared policy that it opposes
terrorism in its all forms and manifestations. Pakistan, by
conviction and choice, is the coalition partner of the international
community formed against global terrorism because we believe
that terrorists know no boundaries and they are engaged in
destabilizing the whole world. We view them as a threat to
international peace and security,” the statement said.
The embassy reminded the Post that despite its huge resources,
the US administration has not been able to restore normalcy
in Iraq.
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