‘ISI to urge cessation of US strikes’

Lieutenant General Zaheer ul-Islam, who was appointed to the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in March, “will visit USA from 1st to 3rd August. This will be a service-to-service bilateral visit,” the statement said.

“He will meet his counterpart General David Petraeus, director CIA,” it added with no further details.

However, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Sherry Rehman told AFP on Saturday that the visit aims to demand an end to the US drone attacks against the South Asian country.

“We will seek an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that,” she said.

Despite Islamabad’s repeated calls on Washington to end the drone attacks, the US government continues its strikes on the country’s tribal regions.

Washington claims its airstrikes target militants. But, on the ground, civilians have been the main victims.

The killing of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in the US drone strikes have strained relations between the two allies, prompting Pakistani officials to send warnings to the US administration over the assaults.

The US has been using the unmanned aerial vehicles for its spy operations and assassination missions worldwide and the strikes have intensified since President Barack Obama took office some four years ago.
Obama confirmed for the first time in January that the non-UN-sanctioned attacks were carried out by the US drones within the Pakistani territory.

The attacks have resulted in growing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. Islamabad has condemned the assassination strikes in the northwestern tribal belt of the country as “unlawful and counterproductive.”

Pakistanis have also held many demonstrations to condemn the United States violations of their country’s sovereignty.

YH/HN

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