Zardari to CENTCOM Chief: Stop the Drone Attacks

By Nick Schifrin, ABC News, Islamabad

In a meeting today in Islamabad, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told the man who oversees the U.S. military presence here to stop attacking targets inside Pakistan with American drones, according to a release by the state-run media.

“Continuing drone attacks on our territory, which result in loss of precious lives and property, are counterproductive and difficult to explain by a democratically elected government. It is creating a credibility gap,” Zardari told Gen. David Petreaus, the new CENTCOM chief, according to the release.

Petraeus_and_kiyani Petraeus chose to make Pakistan his first stop after assuming responsibility for the Middle East and Central/South Asia. He arrived in Islamabad late on Sunday night and has met with, among other, Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani, Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar and, perhaps most important, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, the chief of the army staff and the most powerful member of Pakistan’s military.Left: Petraeus and Kiyani. Inter Services Public Relations Picture.

In the meeting with Zardari, which also included U.S. Ambassador Anne Paterson and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, the Pakistani president told Petraeus that drone attacks “should be stopped and focus should be more on enhanced coordination and intelligence-sharing.”

The United States has launched at least 15 attacks inside Pakistan in the last two months, including the first acknowledged special forces ground incursion into Pakistan, on Sept. 3. That has inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment here, and Pakistani politicians have become outspoken on their public opposition to the attacks.

The attacks “generate anti-America sentiments as well as create outrage and uproar among the people,” the defense minister told Patreaus and Boucher today, according to a statement his office released.

Last week, the foreign ministry called on U.S. Ambassador Anne Paterson to present a formal complaint over the drone attacks.

But the United States insists the drone attacks have worked, targeting midlevel Taliban and al Qaeda operatives who oversee areas of the tribal regions.

Petraeus, Boucher and their team will also meet the governor of the NorthWest Frontier Province, the head of the Frontier Corps, and others before heading to Kabul.

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