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Pakistan Warns Petraeus

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The Washington Post

Published: November 4, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's defense minister cautioned the newly appointed head of the U.S. Central Command on Monday that launching further missile strikes in the country's troubled tribal areas could increase tensions between the two countries.

Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar issued the blunt warning to Gen. David Petraeus during his first official visit to Pakistan as head of the U.S. war in neighboring Afghanistan. Mukhtar, who also called for more coordination between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries, said the recent increase in U.S.-led cross-border strikes had created "bad blood" between the two allies. On Friday, 27 people were killed in two separate U.S. airstrikes in northwest Pakistan.

The Pakistani Defense Ministry said in a statement released shortly after the meeting that frequent attacks inside Pakistan by U.S. Predator drones "could generate anti-American sentiments" and "create outrage and uproar" among Pakistanis.

Petraeus, who took charge of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on Friday, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher met with Mukhtar and Pakistan's top military officer, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. It was part of the first leg of a tour that is expected to include a visit soon to Afghanistan.

Petraeus was also expected to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and several other government officials, although a U.S. State Department spokesman in Islamabad said he could not confirm the meeting with Zardari. The spokesman declined to comment on Petraeus' talks with Pakistani officials.

The visit by Petraeus comes on the heels of sharp diplomatic clashes between American and Pakistani officials over U.S. military action in Pakistani territory in recent months. At least 100 people have been killed in 17 U.S.-led strikes in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan, including eight in a cross-border ground raid Sept. 3. Pakistani officials raised sharp protests in response to the strikes, saying that the U.S. raids in Pakistan's tribal areas are counterproductive.

In Afghanistan, casualties are at record highs among foreign troops and the country's security is in sharp decline.

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