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Pakistan Rejects U.S. Military Claim to Cross-Border Raid Rights ISLAMABAD, January 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistan's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat Friday, January 3, rejected the U.S. military's statement that it was allowed to pursue attackers of its forces in Afghanistan into neighboring Pakistan. "There is no room or legal sanctions for any cross-border operation by U.S. forces to pursue fugitives into Pakistani territory. We have no such policy," Hayat told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "There is no question of allowing any hot pursuit into our territory," he said. Another senior Pakistani official, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid, also reacted sharply to the hot pursuit claims. "We would like to remind them (U.S. military) that we are perfectly capable of securing our borders and the question of allowing any foreign troops into Pakistani territory does not even arise," Rashid told AFP.
U.S. Says It Could Pursue Attackers into Pakistan On Thursday, January 2, the U.S. military said its troops may pursue attackers into war-on-terror ally Pakistan from within Afghanistan if they come under fire from "hostile forces" along the border. "U.S. forces acknowledge the internationally recognized boundaries of Afghanistan, but may pursue attackers who attempt to escape into Pakistan to evade capture or retaliation," the U.S. military said in a press statement. "This is done with the express consent of the Pakistani government... We continue to operate, and have the freedom to operate where we choose." The revelation came as the U.S. military sought to clarify events surrounding a December 29 clash between its soldiers in Afghanistan and a Pakistani border guard that led to a U.S. warplane bombing a religious school which Islamabad says is in Pakistani territory. The statement said last weekend's operation, in which a U.S. soldier was wounded when he was shot in the head by a Pakistani border guard [[[wait a minute...wasn't it reported in the mass-media news here that he was shot by Afghanie resistance fighters??? No one mentioned Pakistani border guards, did they???]]], was "in response to attacks made by hostile forces." "In view of the close cooperation [between US and Pakistani forces], there is no question of allowing any hot pursuit into our territory."
*****Now lets stop for a moment and get a grip...SOMEONE is lying.*****
posted by A Curmudgeon 8:11 AM
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