Reject Hafiz plea against US drones: Pak govt to court
30 Nov 2012 12:07 AM GMT
Pakistan government has asked a court to dismiss LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed's petition against US drones attacks on the Pakistani soil for being ‘not maintainable.’
The Foreign Ministry, in a reply submitted to the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday, said Saeed had approached the court under Article 199 of the Constitution, which allowed only an aggrieved person to file a petition.
‘Public interest litigation falls within the purview of Article 184(3) of the Constitution, which is the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court,’ it stated.
The court provided a copy of the ministry's reply to Saeed's counsel A K Dogar and asked him to file his response at the next hearing on 13 December.
The Chief Justice asked Dogar to come up with arguments on what kind of directions should be issued to the government to stop drone attacks. The Foreign Ministry's reply acknowledged that the main focus of US drone attacks is to target terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. However, these strikes are a violation of the country's sovereignty, it said. Pakistan government had consistently registered its strong protest with the US regarding collateral damage and violation of sovereignty due to these attacks, the reply said. Senior officials of the US embassy, including the Ambassador, have been summoned to the Foreign Office since 2008 to lodge protests over the drone strikes, it added.
The ministry further said that the US opted for drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas essentially from 2008 onwards. However, the frequency of attacks increased in 2009, as 37 strikes were carried out that year, and 115 in 2010, when the US administration decided to dismantle and disrupt safe havens of terrorists in the border areas.
TOP TALIBAN COMMANDER INJURED
Top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was on Thursday injured in a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan tribal region, which killed four other people. The blast occurred close to the vehicle of Mullah Nazir, who is the leader of his own faction of Taliban, at a busy market place in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. Local media reported that it was a suicide attack on the Taliban leader outside his office in Wana. Four other people were killed in the blast.
There was no official word on the attack, for which no group had so far claimed responsibility. Witnesses said the blast also destroyed several shops. Mulla Nazir had signed a peace deal with Pakistani forces in 2007.
The Foreign Ministry, in a reply submitted to the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday, said Saeed had approached the court under Article 199 of the Constitution, which allowed only an aggrieved person to file a petition.
‘Public interest litigation falls within the purview of Article 184(3) of the Constitution, which is the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court,’ it stated.
The court provided a copy of the ministry's reply to Saeed's counsel A K Dogar and asked him to file his response at the next hearing on 13 December.
The Chief Justice asked Dogar to come up with arguments on what kind of directions should be issued to the government to stop drone attacks. The Foreign Ministry's reply acknowledged that the main focus of US drone attacks is to target terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. However, these strikes are a violation of the country's sovereignty, it said. Pakistan government had consistently registered its strong protest with the US regarding collateral damage and violation of sovereignty due to these attacks, the reply said. Senior officials of the US embassy, including the Ambassador, have been summoned to the Foreign Office since 2008 to lodge protests over the drone strikes, it added.
The ministry further said that the US opted for drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas essentially from 2008 onwards. However, the frequency of attacks increased in 2009, as 37 strikes were carried out that year, and 115 in 2010, when the US administration decided to dismantle and disrupt safe havens of terrorists in the border areas.
TOP TALIBAN COMMANDER INJURED
Top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was on Thursday injured in a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan tribal region, which killed four other people. The blast occurred close to the vehicle of Mullah Nazir, who is the leader of his own faction of Taliban, at a busy market place in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. Local media reported that it was a suicide attack on the Taliban leader outside his office in Wana. Four other people were killed in the blast.
There was no official word on the attack, for which no group had so far claimed responsibility. Witnesses said the blast also destroyed several shops. Mulla Nazir had signed a peace deal with Pakistani forces in 2007.
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