'US entitled to take military action in Pakistan's Tribal Areas'

Washington, Oct 4 : The United States is entitled under international law to take military action in Pakistan's Tribal Areas since they no longer lie under the sovereign control of the Pakistani state, according to a US based South Asia expert.

This assertion was made by Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institution at a ceremony marking the release of a new report on Pakistan by a US working group.

Cohen said that Pakistan does not have sovereignty over its own territories and under international law a third country - in this case the US and NATO members' states - is entitled to take action if it has been attacked from those ungoverned territories.

The action taken must not be disproportionate, the Daily Times quoted Cohen, as saying.

However, he suggested that the United States should work with Pakistan to help it re-establish its sovereignty over the Tribal Areas and take control, something it does not enjoy at present.

ANI