Pak leaders oppose ISAF supply resumption

ISLAMABAD (PAN.

The supply line was closed immediately after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airstrike in the Mohmand tribal region in November.

Relations between Islamabad and Washington plummeted to a new low after Pakistan closed its border to NATO supplies and evicted US personnel from the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan.

On Wednesday, a senior US diplomat met Pakistani leaders in Islamabad to end the impasse. But continued US drone strikes in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region hamper the normalisation of bilateral ties

Speaking to journalists in Islamabad on Friday, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief announced a boycott of meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which recently completed a review of the terms of engagement with the US.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that a decision on restoring ISAF supplies had already been taken. Therefore, there was no point in attending the committee meetings, he remarked.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, warned that he would stand down if the government allowed the resumption of NATO supplies.

“Sources have revealed that several federal ministers are lobbying for the resumption of NATO supplies,” he said, adding that he had already spelled out his stance on the issue.

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