Appearing from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Muzaffarabad & Quetta

Thursday, October 29, 2009, Zhul-Q'ada 09, 1430

Meets journalists
—Avoids important questions

Staff Reporter

Islamabad—US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presently on a visit to Pakistan, held a meeting with senior journalists here on Wednesday.

Clinton avoided some important questions by giving evasive answers.

She was asked question on rule of law that the US keeps on stressing, but why the US intervened when 4 US nationals were caught by the law enforcing agencies along with weapons at 3 AM last night in Islamabad. Hillary Clinton clearly evaded the question.

She also dodged a question when she was asked that the US talks in favour of the Parliament’s supremacy but when Pakistan passed a joint resolution against predators’ attack why the US ignored it completely by continuing to carry out these strikes.

Hillary Clinton has termed the reaction on Kerry-Lugar Bill in Pakistan as surprising, adding, the language of the bill could be changed if the bill was debated in time.

She said strong relations between Pakistan and United States is need of the hour, however could not be stabilized till both the countries understood each other.

She said there are no conditions on aid under the Kerry-Lugar Bill and she had no guess of continued debate on the bill in Pakistan, adding, if the debate was on time, then the language of the bill could have been changed.

She said the aid is being given to Pakistan for the stability of democracy and economic development and Pakistan could reject it if it wanted so and the continued debate in Pakistan showed that how much work is yet to be done to improve US image.

Regarding abolishment of check posts from Pak-Afghan border, she said such posts have been removed whose security was impossible for the NATO forces and Pakistan had been informed about it.

To another query, she said strategy about Afghanistan would be announced within next few weeks and Pakistan situation is linked with Afghanistan situation, adding, the time has come to dispose of Afghan war results and establish peace.
 

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