Pak trying to get drone tech: Gilani

Gilani said he had told the US delegation about growing unrest among the public due to the missile strikes by the CIA-operated spy planes

Demanding an end to the US drone attacks in the restive tribal belt,Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan was trying to secure the spy plane technology from the US and seeking enhanced intelligence-sharing so that it can act on its own against militants.

Gilani raised the issue of drone strikes with a visiting Congressional delegation led by Speaker of the US House of Representatives,John Boehner,and said US lawmakers should influence the Obama administration to agree on a joint strategy under which drone technology could be transferred to Pakistan.

Addressing the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament after his meeting with Boehner late Monday,Gilani said he had told the US delegation about growing unrest among the public due to the missile strikes by the CIA-operated spy planes.

I told him that you will have to respect our political and military efforts if you want to succeed in the war on terror, he said. We are trying to secure drone technology from the US so that after gaining information from their intelligence reports,we can hit the militant hideouts in the tribal region, Gilani told the National Assembly. The war against terror is Pakistans own war,which it will fight to eliminate an enemy that is posing a serious threat to the country,he added.

Relations between the US CIA and Pakistans ISI were strained in the wake of the arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis after he gunned down two armed men in Lahore in January.

Pak does not get IMF assurance

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani delegation that attended meetings with officials of the IMF and World Bank in the US is returning home without any clear assurance on the release of the final instalment of a 11.3 billion loan package,a Dawn report said Tuesday.

Pakistan has received over 7 billion in five instalments though the sixth tranche remains suspended since May 2010 because of the countrys inability to meet performance benchmarks. pti