Secret memos show Pakistan ‘knew of US drone strikes’

Islamabad. Secret US documents reveal that senior Pakistani government officials have for years known of and endorsed CIA drone strikes, an American newspaper reports.The Washington Post obtained CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos which indicate officials were routinely given classified briefings.Analysts have long suspected Pakistan gave tacit consent for such strikes despite publicly condemning them.Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif has urged US President Obama to halt such attacks.“I also brought up the issue of drones in our meeting, emphasising the need for an end to such strikes,” Mr Sharif said after they met on Wednesday.The attacks by unmanned US aircraft have been a critical source of tension in the relationship between the countries and came up amid wide-ranging talks between the leaders in Washington.They are also deeply unpopular with the Pakistani public and Pakistan has consistently stated that they violate its sovereignty. The Pakistani government is yet to comment on the report.The documents obtained by the newspaper focus on at least 65 drone strikes in Pakistan over the last few years and were labelled as “talking points” for regular CIA briefings. Although they are marked “top secret”, they are cleared for release to Pakistan, the paper reports.The Washington Post says the documents provide a detailed timeline of the CIA drone programme “tracing its evolution from a campaign aimed at a relatively short list of senior al-Qaeda operatives into a broader aerial assault against militant groups with no connection to the 11 September 2001 attacks”.A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper and the CIA also declined to comment.