The American army used Pakistan's three military bases during war against Taliban, the Defence Secretary Tariq Wasim Ghazi said on Tuesday. "None of the air bases is now in use by foreign forces," he told the Public Accounts Committee here, according to a private television channel.
The American forces used the Jacobabad air base, in Sindh, Pasni air base and Shamsi air base in south-weste Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan, Ghazi said.
President General Pervez Musharraf had changed the policy towards Taliban soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks and extended full support to the US in its military operation against Taliban in late 2001 and early 2002.
Islamic groups had strongly opposed General Musharraf's decision to join the US-led international coalition but he did not give any heed to them.
MPs from MMA asked the Secretary Defence whether US army was still using Pakistani air bases. Ghazi said that the US army had used three air bases during anti-Taliban war, "but now all the air bases are under the control of Pakistan army".
The members asked Defence Secretary to present budgetary details of all military bases in the meeting. The Secretary Defence was asked about last week's crash of Fokker plane. He said all Fokker planes crashed in Pakistan due to pilots' error.
Parliamentary Secretary Tanveer Syed asked the Defence Secretary why Fokker planes were not grounded when an order to ground all Fokker planes was issued ten months ago. The Secretary said that there was no technical defect in the Fokker and that the decision by the Federal Cabinet to ground them was taken under public pressure.
Ghazi said that Pakistan would not seek any foreign help in inquiry in the Multan crash. When the Parliamentary Secretary asked him about security checking at air ports prior to the visit of foreign dignitaries, Ghazi said that security checking of air ports is carried out under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations, if there are security concerns.
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