Investigating NATO raid, no immediate apology: White House

Washington, Dec 1: The US said it was in early stages of investigation into the cross-border NATO air raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and was not apologising to Islamabad, as of now. The incident has thrown the already fragile US-Pak ties further in the doldrums and has prompted Pakistan to shut down the NATO supply routes in protest.

"We need to find the results of this investigation. We have offered our condolences... I am not going to prejudge about that action we might take in the future," White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney said when specifically asked if the White House has decided that US President Barack Obama would not apologise for the incident, as was reported by The New York Times.

Carney termed it as "utter nonsense" when asked if this decision of the Obama Administration was based on political considerations. He said the White House, he himself and other members of the government have already expressed their condolences on the death of Pakistani soldiers.

The NYT in its lead story said that the White House has decided "that President Obama will not offer formal condolences at least for now to Pakistan for the deaths of two dozen soldiers in NATO airstrikes last week, overruling State Department officials who argued for such a show of remorse to help salvage America's relationship with Pakistan". There was a suggestion from the US Embassy in Pakistan about taping a message of condolences, Carney said.

PTI