CIA may continue to operate drones under Pak supervision: Gilani

8220;No one can win a war without the support of the public,8221; he said,adding,8221;I say that this is my war,but when drones strike,the people ask,8221;Whose war is this,then?8221;

Gilani warned that his government was accountable to an electorate that is increasingly hostile to the United States.

8220;I am not an army dictator; Im a public figure,8221; he said. 8220;If public opinion is against you referring to his U.S. allies,then I cannot resist it to stand with you. I have to go with public opinion.8221;

Still,Gilani said for the first time,publicly,that he was open to renegotiating the terms of the Central Intelligence Agency 8221;s program.

8220;A drone strategy can be worked out,8221; he said. 8220;If drone strikes are effective,then we should evolve a common strategy to win over public opinion. Our position is that the technology should be transferred to us.8221;

Still,he added,he would countenance a policy in which the CIA would continue to operate the drones 8220;where they are used under our supervision.8221;

This statement marks a departure from Pakistan8221;s frequent public denunciations of drone strikes as intolerable violations of sovereignty.