Qureshi: In the dark

Islamabad, Sept. 18 (AP): Pakistan said today it was not warned about a suspected US missile strike in its northwest that came the same day a top American official assured Pakistani leaders of US respect for its sovereignty.

The reported attack yesterday will likely fuel anger in Pakistan over a surge in cross-border operations by US forces — including a September 3 ground assault — that has strained the countries’ seven-year anti-terrorism alliance.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister today reiterated his country’s stand against the incursions. But while denying prior knowledge of the reported strike, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi indicated Pakistan’s civilian leaders want to defuse tensions through diplomacy.

Today, militants briefly seized a school building with some 300 children in northwestern Pakistan, police said. The incident ended with the deaths of two suicide bombers who tried to prevent police from retaking the building. No children were harmed.

The suspected missile strike came as the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was in Pakistan meeting the Prime Minister, the army chief and other officials.

The US embassy said Mullen “reiterated the US commitment to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and to develop further US-Pakistani cooperation and coordination on these critical issues that challenge the security and well-being of the people of both countries”.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said in a statement today that “the US government has been clearly told that there would be no compromise on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan”. He did not specify yesterday’s alleged missile strike, but referred generally to “strikes” by foreign forces as being “counterproductive”.

Qureshi, who was among those who met Mullen, told reporters that Pakistani officials “were not informed” of the suspected strike.

Asked about Mullen’s statement, Qureshi said: “It’s a clear, clear commitment to Pakistan to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

“And now if having said that there was an attack later in the night, that means there is some sort of an institutional disconnect on their side, and if so, they will have to sort it out,” he said. Two intelligence officials told The Associated Press that yesterday’s missile strike targeted a compound in South Waziristan used by Taliban militants and Hezb-i-Islami, another group involved in escalating attacks in Afghanistan.

One of the officials said an unmanned drone of the type used by the CIA and US forces in Afghanistan was heard in the area.

They said informants reported six persons had died and three were wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

US embassy spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos declined to comment today, in line with usual US avoidance of discussions of alleged missile strikes.

Washington has long been concerned about Taliban and al Qaida militants’ use of Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions near the Afghan border as bases from which to plan attacks on American and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

A spate of alleged missile strikes, as well as the ground assault, signal American impatience with Pakistani progress in clearing out such sanctuaries.