Trump’s tweet riles Pakistan

SUMMONED: US AMBASSADOR ASKED TO EXPLAIN

We’ve been rewarded with lies and deceit, president said.

Islamabad

Pakistan summoned the US ambassador in protest against President Donald Trump’s angry tweet about Pakistan’s “lies and deceit”. David Hale was summoned by the Pakistani foreign office on Monday to explain Trump’s tweet, media said. A spokesperson for the US embassy in Islamabad confirmed the meeting took place.

In a withering attack, Trump on Monday said the US had “foolishly” handed Pakistan more than $33 billion (R405 billion) in aid in the last 15 years and had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit”.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump’s harsh words drew praise from Pakistan’s old foe, India, and neighbouring Afghanistan, but long-time ally China defended Pakistan’s record of combating “terrorism”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was yesterday to chair a Cabinet meeting on Trump’s tweet, while today the country’s top civilian and military chiefs will meet to discuss deteriorating US ties.

Relations between the US and its uneasy ally Pakistan have been strained for years over Islamabad’s alleged support for Haqqani network militants, who are allied with the Afghan Taliban.

The US also alleges senior Afghan Taliban commanders live on Pakistani soil. In 2016, the then-Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed by a US drone strike inside Pakistan and in 2011, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US troops in the Pakistan town of Abbottabad.

Washington has signalled to Pakistan it will cut aid and enact other punitive measures if Islamabad doesn’t stop helping or turning a blind eye to the Haqqani militants who carry out cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Islamabad bristles at the suggestion it is not doing enough in the war against militancy, saying that since 2001, Pakistan has suffered more than the US as casualties at the hands of Islamists number in the tens of thousands.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Asif dismissed Trump’s comments as a political stunt borne out of frustration over US failures in Afghanistan, where Afghan Taliban militants have been gaining territory and carrying out major attacks. – Reuters