Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani revealed Friday for the first time that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf gave approval for US drones to make surveillance flights over the country. "The previous government gave them permission for surveillance and reconnaissance flights by US drone aircraft but not to launch missile attacks," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told diplomatic correspondents.
The United States does not officially confirm the drone attacks, but the campaign is unpopular among the Pakistan public who see military action on Pakistani soil as a breach of national sovereignty. Gilani said "we will find out" when asked about reports that US drones use Shamsi base in Balochistan, but denied that drones were taking off from a military base in southern province Sindh.
"We have not provided them space (to fly). This is wrong and I have contradicted that drones were using Shahbaz base (in Sindh) for this purpose." "We have repeatedly said the drone attacks are counter productive," Gilani told the group of local and foreign reporters. "We want to have drone technology and also if they have any actionable intelligence, we want them to share it with us."