Pakistan Delays Decision On NATO Supply Line Restoration

Islamabad, May 16, IRNA – A Pakistani panel of top civilian and military leaders Tuesday night deferred a decision on restoration of NATO supply line, a cabinet minister and an official statement said. Information Minister Qamar-uz-Zaman, who attended the meeting, told the media said that there would be more consultations before taking a final decision on restoration of NATO supply line. He said that all concerned stakeholders have been instructed to expedite the process of consultations on the NATO supply line. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani presided over the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC). Army chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, other services chiefs, head of the major intelligence agency and key ministers including foreign, interior and defence attended the meeting. Pakistan had closed NATO supply line over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year in a deadly U.S. air strike. “In keeping with the letter and spirit of Parliamentary Committee recommendations, the DCC authorized officers of relevant ministries/departments to conclude the ongoing negotiation on the new terms and conditions for resumption of supplies,” an official statement said. The new terms and conditions should incorporate a clause, as recommended by Parliament, to the effect that only non-lethal cargo would be allowed to transit through Pakistan to Afghanistan, it said. It was also decided that the military authorities should negotiate fresh border ground rules with NATO/ISAF to ensure that strike on Pakistani posts type incidents do not reoccur, the statement said. “The DCC welcomed the unconditional invitation by the NATO Secretary General to the President of Pakistan to attend NATO summit in Chicago. The DCC fully endorsed the visit of the President for the Summit”. The Committee further decided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would continue to remain engaged with the government of the United States on other Parliamentary recommendations, including the question of apology and cessation of drone attacks. The Committee also discussed the Parliament’s call for expulsion of foreign fighters, if found, on the Pakistani side. The NATO Secretary General called President Asif Ali Zardari and extended a formal invitation to him to attend the NATO summit, presidential spokesman said. Pakistan and U.S. officials had been holding talks in Islamabad over the past few days to discuss new terms for NATO to use Pakistan’s land routes for supplies. Earlier sources said the DCC had taken a decision to restore supply line for NATO troops in Afghanistan after nearly a six-month closure of the supply routes. Local media had also reported that the DCC had also decided that weapons would not be transported via Pakistan and only petroleum products, food, medicines and other essential items would be permitted for NATO forces. Pakistan and the U.S. have been in a standoff over the closure of NATO supply line since November. Islamabad had been demanding a public apology for the NATO strike for reopening the routes. The U.S. has so far refused to tender apology, but top American and NATO leaders have now pressed Islamabad to reopen key supply routes./end