Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday informed the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) that there is no information regarding the presence of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.
She said if the United States has any solid intelligence information on the presence of al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in Pakistan, it should be shared so that the country can look into the matter accordingly. Khar was speaking in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement in Kolkata where she said that the US believed Zawahiri was in Pakistan.
Khar was briefing PCNS on the issue of drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas and the recommendation of parliament on Pakistan-US ties. Ties between the two countries had been affected after an attack on a Salala check post killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
She said that talks between Pakistan and the United States in the light of the terms of engagement set by parliament were still ongoing and may take some time to settle. She said there was no halt in the talks and the impression of failure was wrong.
The foreign minister said the US will hopefully respect the Pakistani parliament’s recommendations, which have been directly linked to the stoppage of drone strikes.
The foreign minister added that US officials had been told that drone attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.