HONG KONG (AFP) — The chief minister of Pakistan's most populous province called Saturday for Washington to stop aerial missile strikes on the nation's soil, as the latest raid killed four more suspected militants.
Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab and the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, said the strikes targeting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants were only stoking tensions with Washington's "war on terror" ally.
"This is creating anger in Pakistan. This is creating friction between our two countries," Sharif, the brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, told AFP in an interview.
"I hope there's no further tension and escalation of friction, but no sovereign country can allow this to happen," he said. "Pakistan is a sovereign, independent country and our territory, our independence cannot be flouted."
Sharif said he hoped the incoming administration of US president-elect Barack Obama would stop such strikes and help reduce the current tensions with the Pakistan government of President Asif Ali Zardari.
"President-elect Obama taking over the reins next January should result in better understanding of Pakistan's problems and difficulties and sensitivities and should result in better cohesion between the two countries," he said.
He said Obama should "disallow his forces to enter Pakistan and engage with Pakistan in a manner where we consult with each other."
"We should be given a free hand. We are a sovereign country. There should be no intrusion and we should consult with each another like two friendly countries as we have always been," he added.
His comments came as Pakistan security officials said an overnight missile strike by a suspected US drone killed an Al-Qaeda operative along with at least three other militants in a northwestern Pakistani tribal district.
US spy planes have carried out more than 20 attacks in recent months and Islamabad this week lodged a strong protest with Washington over the strikes.
"It is for Pakistan and Pakistanis to deal with this problem within the country," Sharif said.
He also backed negotiations with militants, as proposed by President Hamid Karzai of neighbouring Afghanistan, if talks resulted in lasting peace.
"If Karzai is negotiating with Taliban and if the Brits are supporting negotiations with Taliban, what is the harm in Pakistan holding talks with them under broad daylight, as long as it results in improvement in the situation?"
Sharif, along with his brother, was exiled under the government of Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup and turned Pakistan into a loyal US ally after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
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