Pakistani party chief to move int'l courts against U.S. drone attacks
Addressing a joint press conference with British national Clive Smith, who runs a charity, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan alleged that the rulers had sold the national sovereignty for the sake of American dollars.
"We have decided to adopt a two-way strategy, i.e. public pressure within the country, and litigation at international courts of law, to end drone attacks in Pakistan that are killing innocent civilians," he remarked.
Clive Smith's Reprieve is a charity unit that provides free legal aid to families of victims of drone attacks in collaboration with Justice Project of Pakistan.
The PTI chief sought public cooperation in this connection and said it was high time for people to take to streets against what he billed as the state-sponsored terrorism.
He claimed that a national consensus had been evolved against the drone strikes after the emergence of the issue of CIA agent Raymond Davis. Quoting local elders, he said 90 percent of the people targeted in drone attacks were innocent civilians.
In total contrast to it, Pakistani military's General Officer Commanding 7-Division Maj Gen Ghayur Mehmood said in a briefing here the other day: "Myths and rumors about U.S. Predator strikes and the casualty figures are many, but it's a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hard-core elements and a sizable number of them are foreigners."
Khan noted the bodies of the victims were usually beyond recognition and somehow they (victims) were called suspects. He added the terrorists were innocent until they were proved guilty.
Criticizing the Pakistani government for failing to protect the life and property of Pakistani citizens, he also invited all political parties to his proposed sit-in at northwestern provincial capital Peshawar on April 23-24 against the drone attacks, saying "it was our duty to rise against naked foreign aggression and our government's failure to prevent them."
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