Spokesperson and Media Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shiraz Paracha has expressed the hope that America will take seriously the memorandum submitted to the US Consulate in Peshawar by the KP government against the drone strikes in Hangu; and it is highly expected that the drone strikes, being carried out in the adjacent tribal areas in future and now in KP, will be halted for good.
In a statement issued here, Paracha said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has submitted the said memorandum through the senior ministers of his cabinet in which the resentment of the people of the province against the drone attacks had been projected and the US had been demanded of halting the drone strikes. He said CM Pervez Khattak through protest memorandum had shown political and diplomatic vision and the same was much in accordance with the democratic norms, he added.
Paracha expressed the hope that the US government would reciprocate in the same democratic manner and would give assurance of halting drone strikes so that the provincial government would no more in need to submit another protest memorandum to the US Embassy in Islamabad.
He said the provincial government did not want to waste its time and energy in protests demonstration rather the CM wanted to concentrate on the projects and initiatives undertaken for the development of the province; adding the provincial government had taken effective and solid steps in that regard but the issue of drone strikes had created law and order situation in the province, he lamented.
Restoration of peace and tranquillity in the war-hit province was the top priority of the provincial government; hence it demanded the US government not to sabotage its peace efforts by drone strikes, he urged.
Sheraz Paracha said CM's letters to the Prime Minister on the drone issue was all in good faith as the CM wanted the federal government to fulfil its responsibilities regarding peace in KP, adding that in the said letter CM Pervez Khattak had suggested the PM to convene an All Parties Conference and suspend Nato supply.
He termed the CM's letter as crucial step towards national reconciliation and said CM Pervez Khattak wanted that the federal and all the provincial governments be unanimous and united to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Now the ball was in the court of PM Nawaz Sharif, he concluded.