By NNN-APP,
London : Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in an interview with The Times, talked down the anti-US feeling in his country, saying that Pakistanis, horrified by the violence, now saw the fight against militants as “their war.”
“It is our war that we are fighting, not a proxy war for the US,” he told the paper’s foreign affairs editor Bronwen Maddox in the interview, arguing that his country was an ally among equals in the battle against terrorism, not an American or British stooge.
Rejecting Gordon Brown’s claim that Osama bin Laden was probably in Pakistan’s wild tribal territories and that the Government should have done more to catch him, Gilani said: “Certainly, he is not there.”
If the US wanted Pakistan to pursue him it would have to furnish evidence that he was there, he said. He shrugged off Brown’s criticism, calling him “a seasoned parliamentarian” and implying that the remarks were intended for British and American ears.
He was glad that Brown had “clarified” hem yesterday, he said in a reference to the distinctly milder language of the British leader at a joint press conference.
The paper said Gilani is picking a careful middle course, asserting a desire to be close to the US and Britain but batting away their demands for more visible proof of co-operation.
Maddox wrote that Gilani has grown in stature in his 18 months, helped by his record of independent thinking. Gilani brushed away reports that President Barack Obama planned to increase the number of attacks by unmanned drone aircraft within Pakistan, and even extend them to the volatile province of Balochistan, in pursuit of al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
Such attacks were “entirely counter-productive” in uniting militants and civilians, he said, adding that Pakistan was asking the US to hand over technology to let it pursue the terrorists itself.
He said Islamabad was carefully examining the new US policy for Afghanistan and the implications for Pakistan but added he was confident that Obama would “respect the integrity” of Pakistan.
Gilani noted that if America’s planned surge poured more troops into Helmand province there could be a flight of refugees or terrorists into Balochistan, but declared that “we will be able to resolve that.”
He said, however, that Pakistan had asked the US for practical help such as bomb-proof police stations, training for police and more sophisticated weapons.
The paper said Gilani’s fiercest comments were for the Taliban and other militants. “We have tried dialogue, development and deterrence and exhausted all options,” he said. “It is our resolve to fight them.”
He added: “We don’t differentiate between Pakistan Taliban or Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda. They all have no religion and no boundaries; they are the same to us.”