Pakistan's provincial assembly adopts anti-drone resolution

Islamabad, Nov 5 : Lawmakers in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly late Monday unanimously adopted a resolution against the US drone strikes and called upon the federal government to take measures to stop these attacks.

The resolution was passed days after a US drone killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, which Pakistan says has scuttled the proposed peace dialogue with the militants, Xinhua reported.

The resolution also called upon the federal government to go ahead with the plan to hold talks with the Taliban militants.

Earlier, senior political leader Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party rules the province, announced closure of the NATO supply line after Nov 20.

"On Nov 20, we will stop the NATO supply line in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," he told a national assembly session.

Khan said similar resolutions will also be moved in the national assembly and other provincial assemblies to evolve consensus against the US attacks.

Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties in the senate strongly condemned the recent drone attacks in which Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leaders were killed.

They said the drone attacks are a conspiracy to sabotage the dialogue process with the Taliban.

They called upon the government to revive relations with the US and raise the issue at the UN. Most senators of the national assembly said that an all parties conference should be convened to take a decision on the issue of NATO supply.

Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said the recent drone attacks also have national and international implications and the House must discuss these in detail.

IANS