CIA drone strikes violate Pakistan's sovereignty, says senior diplomat

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/cia-drone-strikes-violate-pakistan


Wajid Shamsul Hasan says the use of drones by the US is weakening democracy and pushing people towards extremist groups. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

One of Islamabad's most senior diplomats is warning that CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas are weakening democracy and risk pushing people towards extremist groups.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to London and one of Pakistan's top ambassadors, also accuses the US of "talking in miles" when it comes to democracy but "moving in inches".

In an interview with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Hasan, four years into his second stint in the post, argues that US drone strikes risk significantly weakening Pakistan's democratic institutions. "What has been the whole outcome of these drone attacks is that you have directly or indirectly contributed to destabilising or undermining the democratic government. Because people really make fun of the democratic government – when you pass a resolution against drone attacks in the parliament and nothing happens. The Americans don't listen to you, and they continue to violate your territory," he said.

But he accepts that Pakistan has little power to stop the strikes other than through public opinion: "We cannot take on the only superpower, which is all-powerful in the world at the moment. You can't take them on. We are a small country, we are ill-equipped."