Pakistan: Suspected US missile strikes 'a grave message'
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2372996731 Karachi, 28 July (AKI) - (By Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt early on Monday sent a serious message to the Pakistani authorities, say experts. The missile <http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2372325363> strikes in Pakistan's tribal district of South Waziristan, an area bordering Afghanistan, killed six people, including a top al-Qaeda leader Midhat Mursi Al-Sayid Umar. The strikes came just hours before Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani was expected to meet President George W. Bush in Washington on his first visit to the US as prime minister. US Central Command acting commander, Lieutenant General Martin E. Dempsey was also in a meeting with the Pakistani military's senior commanders in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, on Monday. "We need to check whether this attack was the result of the heat of the battle in which any stray missile hit the Pakistani area," Tanvir Ahmed Khan, director-general of Pakistan's Strategic Institute told Adnkronos International (AKI). "But if this is not the case and it was a pre-emptive strike based on some suspicions, it is a very grave message at a juncture when the Pakistani premier is visiting President Bush to discuss Pakistan's role in the US-led War on Terror." Four missiles reportedly targeted the madrassa or Islamic school run by Maulana Jalil Wazir in the Zeralita village in the Azam Warsak area, near the Afghan border. At least six people, including three foreigners, were killed in the strikes. Among those killed was reportedly the top al-Qaeda leader, described in some reports as a chemical weapons expert. Pakistani security officials were reported as saying that the missiles were not fired by their forces but came from US coalition troops deployed over the border in Afghanistan. Monday's attack also happened on the same day that Dempsey delivered four F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan's Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed in a ceremony at Mushaf Air Base. According to a statement released by the US Embassy in Islamabad, Monday's ceremony completed the delivery of 14 F-16s worth 25.6 million dollars that the US agreed to provide Pakistan under a foreign military sales programme. "The first two were delivered in December 2005; two more in July 2007; two in February 2008; four in June 2008; and the final four today," said the statement. "On the one hand, Pakistan dished out the military aid for its services in the War on Terror and on the other hand, the US violated its air space," defence analyst and retired Lieutenant-General Talat Masood told AKI. 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