Pakistan’s ruling party demands U.S. apology

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Pakistan’s ruling party demanded a U.S. apology for a CIA air strike on a village near the Afghan border that killed innocent civilians, The Associated Press news agency reported.

On Monday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q denounced Friday’s missile strike on the Damadola village in the Bajaur tribal zone.

Pakistanis believe the missile strike was ordered by the CIA and launched by U.S. forces in neighboring AFGHANISTAN.

Although the U.S. hasn’t publicly acknowledged any responsibility, American intelligence officials close to the operation said the strike was aimed at AL-QAEDA's deputy AYMAN AL-ZAWAHRI. But Pakistani officials asserted that ZAWAHRI wasn’t at the site of the U.S. attack, which killed 18 Pakistani civilians.

Aziz said the incident was “very regrettable,” but noted that he will go ahead with a visit to the U.S. that starts today to discuss security issues with American officials and meet business leaders because the attack doesn't “take away from the fact that Pakistan needs investment.”

Meanwhile, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad condemned the U.S. strike, saying that U.S. forces in AFGHANISTAN “should try to work to improve their image.”

Pakistan's U.S. ambassador Jehangir Karamat also asserted that Islamabad wasn’t notified ahead of the strike. “To my knowledge there was no prior notification. We had discussions earlier on the gap between -- between actionable intelligence and operations on the ground, because if it takes too long targets tend to disappear," he said on FOX News Channel's "Fox and Friends" program.

Asked whether intelligence about ZAWAHRI was shared with Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said; "From day one it's been clearly understood that there will be intelligence sharing and indeed there is very close cooperation ... but that any operations required would be conducted by Pakistani armed forces to prevent just the sort of occurrence that happened."

>>> Apology

The Muslim League-Q party issued a statement demanding a formal apology from the United States. And the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA) opposition alliance called for a parliament debate on the issue to be held this week. It also said it planned to continue anti-American protests across the country.

"We will continue to protest until American forces withdraw from AFGHANISTAN," said spokesman Shahid Shamsi, adding that the U.S.’s “WAR ON TERRORISM” shouldn’t extend across border without permission.

On Monday, the U.S. Secretary of State CONDOLEEZZA RICE said the U.S. could not deal "lightly" with AL-QAEDA, but noted that she will address Pakistan’s concerns over such strikes.

Unidentified Pakistani officials said the strike was launched on intelligence that ZAWAHRI had been invited to dinner in the village. But a senior intelligence official was quoted by Reuters as saying that there was no evidence that he attended the dinner. Residents also denied that rebels were present in the area.

However, American counterterrorism officials insist that the strike could have eliminated some AL-QAEDA figures even if ZAWAHRI wasn’t hit.

"There's reason to believe that some significant AL-QAEDA figures were killed. But it isn't clear who they were or whether ZAWAHRI was one of them," one official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Other U.S. officials ruled out the possibility of carrying out an examination of human remains or DNA evidence to confirm the identities of those killed. They said confirmation of ZAWAHRI's death could be known over time, through word of mouth or a possible recorded message from AL-QAEDA.

There are more than 20,000 American forces in AFGHANISTAN.

Pakistan has about 70,000 troops in the border region, and the government says it didn’t give the Americans a permission to launch military operations across the border.

Friday‘s strike was one of several U.S. attacks along the border. Earlier this month, eight Pakistanis were killed in cross-border firing in Miran Shah, Waziristan.

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