Pakistan's New Prime Minister: US Drone Attacks 'Must End'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/05



Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif was returned to his previous position as prime minister on Wednesday and said one of his priorities will be to compel the US to cease bombing its sovereign territory along the Afghanistan border

Pakistan's New Prime Minister: US Drone Attacks 'Must End'
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 by Common Dreams

In a speech before the Pakistan parliament on Wednesday, newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received overwhelming applause when he declared that forcing the US government to end its drone bombing campaign in the nation's tribal areas would be one of his top priorities.

"This daily routine of drone attacks, this chapter shall now be closed," Sharif said to widespread applause in the parliament hall. "We do respect others' sovereignty. It is mandatory on others that they respect our sovereignty."

Sharif, who was removed from power by a military coup in 1999, was returned to his former position as prime minister following a majority vote in the 342-seat parliament and now begins an unprecedented third term.

The deadly US drone strikes in the tribal areas have been a source of consistent and widespread outrage in Pakistan, but the US government under President Obama has continued the practice despite popular popular and government warnings saying that they undermine stability in the country and generate more anti-Americanism throughout the region.