UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan's Prime Minister Aziz says there is no evidence yet that any al Qaeda figures were killed in recent U.S. airstrike in Pakistan

Record ID: 336636

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan's Prime Minister Aziz says there is no evidence yet that any al Qaeda figures were killed in recent U.S. airstrike in Pakistan
  • Date: 21st January 2006
  • Summary: (AM) UNITED NATIONS (JANUARY 20, 2006) (REUTERS) AZIZ AT A NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHAUKAT AZIZ, PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER SAYING: "The incident which took place about, few days ago resulted in the loss of lives of about thirteen people. The people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan have felt that this was indeed regrettable. They have con
  • Embargoed: 5th February 2006 12:00
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  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5JUQE5K5DUCLAZFDUC5MY0YZ3
  • Story Text: No evidence has yet turned up of al Qaeda figures among the dead when a U.S. missile killed at least 18 people in a remote part of Pakistan, the South Asian nation's Prime Minister said on Friday (January 20).
    Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz indicated this during a visit to the United Nations as part of his trip to the United States.
    Aziz, who held a news conference after meeting United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said of the January 13 bombing episode, "The incident which took place about, few days ago resulted in the loss of lives of about thirteen people. The people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan have felt that this was indeed regrettable. They have condemned the incident. Whether there were any other people there and what, who were they were and whether they were high-value targets or otherwise is being investigated. And as of an hour ago, when I last checked with our relevant security agencies who are combing the area, they have not found any tangible evidence that a particular group or any individual was there."
    Aziz's statement comes as a contradiction after Pakistani intelligence sources said on Thursday that an al Qaeda bomb expert with a $5 million bounty on his head and a son-in-law of the group's No. 2 were among four militants believed killed by last week's U.S. airstrike, which officials said was aimed at al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri.
    Aziz, who will visit Washington D.C. next week also said that Pakistan will continue to look for victims and investigate their identities.
    He added, "We have been very active proponents and partners in the war against terror with the rest of the world, and we will continue to do so. We do this out of conviction. We believe terrorism will not solve any issue, it will in fact complicate matters in the world. So, out of conviction we are leading this cause to fight terrorism everywhere, including in Pakistan."
    Meanwhile, Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has acknowledged that "a few militants" had died in the attack, but said their bodies had not been recovered.
    The missile strike in Pakistan's remote Bajaur tribal region, launched from an unmanned drone aircraft controlled by the CIA, was one of at least five such attacks in Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan targeting al Qaeda suspects, according to experts and media reports.
    Aziz said people should not be surprised that there were anti-American protests in Pakistan after the attack as the incident "cost innocent lives."
    Aziz is expected to raise the issue with President George W. Bush during his visit to Washington next week, but when asked about that, he responded only, "the concerns of the people of Pakistan will be presented at the right forum."
    Apart from the bombing incident, Aziz also gave his opinion on the current world tensions over Iran's nuclear research program.
    Aziz said, "On the Iranian situation we have said that no country should proliferate and we are against Iran producing or proliferating a nuclear weapon. At the same time, we believe every country has the right to use nuclear energy to meet its legitimate requirements for producing electricity. We think Iran has the right to do so provided it is done under IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards, monitoring and guidelines, so that the whole world feels comfortable that the program being pursued in Iran is for this purpose."
    The Prime Minister also pointed out that in order to cater for Pakistan's growing energy needs, the country is exploring the possibility of building several gas pipelines, including one from Iran to Pakistan and then onto India. Other proposed gas lines include one from Qatar to Pakistan and onto India, and another from Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan, into Pakistan and India.
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