US drone strikes could end in Pakistan: Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday said that US drone strikes in Pakistan could end "very soon", in unusually outspoken remarks welcomed in Islamabad but immediately downplayed by American aides.
It is the first time such a senior member of the US administration has indicated there could be a definitive end to the programme, which the CIA has in the past called an effective counter-terrorism weapon.
But the strikes are a major thorn in often fractious ties between Islamabad and Washington, and are officially condemned by Pakistan as a violation of sovereignty and international law.
Kerry waded into the row at the tail end of a visit to Islamabad, in which he announced that Washington was reviving strategic dialogue with Pakistan for the first time after a series of crises in 2011.
Asked in an interview by state-run PTV whether the strikes could end, Kerry said: "I think the program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it."
Pressed on whether a timeline was envisaged, Kerry replied: "Well, I do. And I think the (US) president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon."
Pakistan's top diplomat Sartaj Aziz yesterday demanded a halt to drone strikes that have already decreased.
But US officials immediately sought to downplay Kerry's remarks.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the number of drone strikes had declined owing to the drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan and because of progress in curtailing the al-Qaeda threat.
"Today the secretary referenced the changes that we expect to take place in that programme over the course of time, but there is no exact timeline to provide," she said.
Kerry's visit announced the resumption of so-called strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, and he invited the newly elected Sharif to hold talks with US President Barack Obama in the autumn.
It will be the highest level talks between the two sides since January 2011, after which US troops found and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011.
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