UK, France Against US Drone Attacks in Pakistan…
ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom and France have expressed serious reservations about the US drone attacks on the tribal areas and have assured Islamabad that they would ask Washington to stop these attacks as soon as possible.
These capitals maintain that such attacks have not produced any positive result. They also do not agree with some top US officials that Pakistan may collapse in the coming six months and that Islamabad will be taken over by the Taliban.
British special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Sir Sherard Cower-Coles and French special representative Pierre Lellouche met top Pakistani officials on Friday and Saturday in Islamabad and assured them of their full diplomatic and economic support. Thy met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi apart from some important security officials.
The European diplomats discussed the security situation in Swat and the tribal areas with the Pakistani officials and made it clear that not a single European country was planning to shut down its embassy in Islamabad in the coming few months.
They also urged the Pakistani leadership to forge a united political front to deal with the growing threat of extremism.
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