Pakistan today accused the US of deliberately trying to sabotage its peace process with militants by carrying out the drone attack that killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, saying it would review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and cooperation.
The drone attack in North Waziristan yesterday was not about the "killing of an individual but the murder of peace in the region", Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a news conference.
Asked if he was saying that the US carried out the strike to derail the peace process with the Taliban, he said, "Absolutely." He said the US has targeted the peace process through drone strikes.
"Why has Hakimullah Mehsud become so important? If they were wanted there were many opportunities, we know it and I am sure they know it...Why target him just a day before a three-member team of ulemas was going to visit and start formal contacts," a visibly upset Khan said.
An urgent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security has been called to review bilateral cooperation and ties with the US, he said.
The meeting is expected to be held in the next two to three days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns from an official visit to Britain.
The Foreign Office summoned US envoy Richard Olson to protest the drone attack. In a statement, it said the attack that killed Mehsud will have a "negative impact" on the government's efforts to hold talks with the Taliban.
Khan refused to confirm the killing of Mehsud. "Even at this stage we don't have 100 per cent confirmation," he said.
Interior Ministry sources said they were awaiting official confirmation. "One agency working in the area has confirmed (Mehsud's death). We need confirmation from the main agency and others. He has a habit of coming back alive," a source said.
However, a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman confirmed the killing of Mehsud. The commander and five other militants killed by the CIA-operated spy plane were buried in North Waziristan today.
Addressing the media after chairing a meeting at the Interior Ministry, Khan vowed to raise the issue of drone attacks in international forums, including the UN.
Sources said the stopping of NATO supply trucks bound for Afghanistan would be one of the issues to be discussed at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security.
