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Pakistan to support Iran if Israel attacks, says Wajid
LONDON – Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said that Pakistan would be left with no option but to support Iran if Israel attacks it.
Mr Hasan told The Sun in an exclusive interview that his country’s relations with America are at their lowest ebb.
He said: “Patience is definitely reaching exhaustion levels.” He said Pakistan backs the war on terror waged by Britain and the US.
But he urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to condemn US drone attacks on al-Qaeda and Taliban training camps in the northwest of his country - dubbing them as “war crimes” and “little more than state executions”.
Tough-talking Hasan also declared Pakistan would have no choice but to support Iran if “aggressive” Israel attacks it.
But his immediate concern is the drones known to have killed 535 civilians, including 60 children, in three years.
Pakistan claims the real death toll is more than 1,000. The unmanned aircraft blast missiles at targets, directed by a computer thousands of miles away.
The High Commissioner said: “I think time is running out until the Pakistan government can take a stand.
“They will have to at some stage take punitive actions to stop them. They have got means to take such actions to defend their own frontier and territories. “But that will inflame the situation and stop the war on terror and that is not what we want.”
The US military claim drones have “decimated” the al-Qaeda leadership since 2008 with no reported civilian casualties.
But Hasan said: “We know the damage - destroyed schools, communities, hospitals. They are civilians - children, women, families. Our losses are enormous. “Generally people think that deaths caused by drone attacks should be treated as war crimes.
“There is so much animosity that perhaps the Americans are the most hated people in the minds of the people in Pakistan.”
Hasan urged Britain to tell the US its drone strikes are counter-productive.
On Iran, Hasan said: “We would not like Israel to attack any country, irrespective of whether it’s Iran or any nuclear country. We wouldn’t like to be seen as part of Israel’s campaign against any country. If Israel attacks Iran, it will have an impact on Pakistan as well.
“We will have to safeguard our own interests. We also have a Shia population in Pakistan who will not take it lying down.
He warned that India and Gulf countries could also get involved in any conflict.
This news was published in print paper. Access complete paper of this day.
Pakistan to support Iran if Israel attacks, says Wajid | The Nation
Here goes the dream of some pakistanis and Parvez Mushraf to have good relations with Israel Some big talks
LONDON – Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said that Pakistan would be left with no option but to support Iran if Israel attacks it.
Mr Hasan told The Sun in an exclusive interview that his country’s relations with America are at their lowest ebb.
He said: “Patience is definitely reaching exhaustion levels.” He said Pakistan backs the war on terror waged by Britain and the US.
But he urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to condemn US drone attacks on al-Qaeda and Taliban training camps in the northwest of his country - dubbing them as “war crimes” and “little more than state executions”.
Tough-talking Hasan also declared Pakistan would have no choice but to support Iran if “aggressive” Israel attacks it.
But his immediate concern is the drones known to have killed 535 civilians, including 60 children, in three years.
Pakistan claims the real death toll is more than 1,000. The unmanned aircraft blast missiles at targets, directed by a computer thousands of miles away.
The High Commissioner said: “I think time is running out until the Pakistan government can take a stand.
“They will have to at some stage take punitive actions to stop them. They have got means to take such actions to defend their own frontier and territories. “But that will inflame the situation and stop the war on terror and that is not what we want.”
The US military claim drones have “decimated” the al-Qaeda leadership since 2008 with no reported civilian casualties.
But Hasan said: “We know the damage - destroyed schools, communities, hospitals. They are civilians - children, women, families. Our losses are enormous. “Generally people think that deaths caused by drone attacks should be treated as war crimes.
“There is so much animosity that perhaps the Americans are the most hated people in the minds of the people in Pakistan.”
Hasan urged Britain to tell the US its drone strikes are counter-productive.
On Iran, Hasan said: “We would not like Israel to attack any country, irrespective of whether it’s Iran or any nuclear country. We wouldn’t like to be seen as part of Israel’s campaign against any country. If Israel attacks Iran, it will have an impact on Pakistan as well.
“We will have to safeguard our own interests. We also have a Shia population in Pakistan who will not take it lying down.
He warned that India and Gulf countries could also get involved in any conflict.
This news was published in print paper. Access complete paper of this day.
Pakistan to support Iran if Israel attacks, says Wajid | The Nation
Here goes the dream of some pakistanis and Parvez Mushraf to have good relations with Israel Some big talks