 Co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Ali Zardari An American-led raid inside Pakistan threatened Thursday to erode support for the pro-US presidential front-runner just two days before the election, while embarrassing a fledgling government that has tried to rally domestic support for the war on terror.
Furor continued to mount over the first known foreign ground assault in Pakistan against a Taliban haven.
The government summoned the US ambassador for an official protest, while Parliament passed resolutions of condemnation.
In news likely to stoke more anger, intelligence officials said they suspected a missile strike has caused a blast that killed at least four people in North Waziristan, part of the tribal belt where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri are thought to be hiding.
Previous such strikes have been blamed on Washington.
The early Wednesday incursion, with troops ferried by helicopter, occurred in adjacent South Waziristan.
Officials said at least 15 people died, including women and children.
The Foreign Ministry said no top militant targets were killed, with no indication that anyone was detained.
US officials declined to comment publicly.
But a US military official said intelligence had indicated the presence of people "clearly associated with attacks on US forces in Afghanistan."
He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of cross-border operations.
The raid complicated the already difficult Pakistan-US relationship.
The Pakistan People's Party, which came to power after defeating allies of US-backed former President Pervez Musharraf in February, is considered generally supportive of the war on terror.
But it has tread carefully on the subject because many Pakistan is blame the alliance with the US for fuelling violence in their country.
Still, the party, which led a successful drive to force Musharraf out of the presidency in mid-August, has tried to convince Pakistanis they cannot duck the fight.
In a column for The Washington Post that ran Thursday, party leader Asif Ali Zardari, the leading candidate for president in Saturday's vote by legislators, said Pakistan was committed to fighting terrorism.
"We stand with the United States, Britain, Spain and others who have been attacked," wrote Zardari, whose wife, ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in December.
"Fundamentally, however, the war we are fighting is our war. This battle is for Pakistan's soul.
"I will work to defeat the domestic Taliban insurgency and to ensure that Pakistani territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on our neighbours or on NATO forces in Afghanistan."
Still, there were signs of domestic political fallout for Zardari due to the raid.
The leader of a group of lawmakers from the tribal areas, Munir Khan Orakzai, said they would not vote for Zardari, calling the ground attack evidence that the government has failed to bring peace to their region.
Zafar Ali Shah, a lawmaker from the chief opposition party of ex Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said Pakistan should tell America: "Enough is enough, and we will not help you if you kill our people. The American war against terrorism has become a war against Pakistan."
A People's Party spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, acknowledged that the attack had embarrassed the government and threatened to undermine joint efforts in the war on terror. He said Zardari condemned the incident and wants compensation paid to the victims.
"We have been very clear that any action on this side of the border must be taken by the Pakistani forces themselves," Babar said. "It is very embarrassing for the government. The people will start blaming the government of Pakistan."
Pakistan's ambassador to Britain, who knows Zardari well, also said American attacks pose a "big problem" for the government as far as domestic support.
"We want, and have been trying to convince our Western friends that this democratic government has just come into being - and that we'll complete the democratic process by electing Zardari or someone else - but then please give us some space so that we can implement our plans," Wajid Hasan said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined comment Thursday on the attack and Pakistani condemnations.
"What I will reiterate is that we've been working closely with the new civilian government of Pakistan, which is feeling its way and trying to establish itself," Perino told reporters.
Pressed about Pakistan's anger about the raid, she added: "I understand that, and we're focused on trying to improve coordination."
Analysts said despite public anger, Pakistan is too economically dependent on the US to risk cutting ties.
The US has given Pakistan billions of dollars for its support in the war on terror, and past protests over suspected US missile attacks in Pakistani territory have had little tangible effect on relations.
Still, Talat Masood, a political and military analyst, warned the US would be wise to avoid another ground assault.
"If this is repeated in any way, I am certain that it will have a very serious impact," Masood said. "This government is trying to change the perception of the people that this is our war. It was trying to get a good relationship with the people of Pakistan and the United States. And then there comes this intervention."
American officials say destroying militant sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal regions is critical to ending the growing Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan.
There has been debate in Washington over how far the US can go, and some officials have pressed President George W Bush to direct US troops in Afghanistan to be more aggressive in pursuing militants into Pakistan on foot, the AP has learned.
US rules of engagement allow American troops to chase militants across the border into Pakistan when they are attacked.
They may go about 10 kilometres on the ground, under normal circumstances.
US rules let aircraft go 16 kilometres into Pakistan air space.
Pakistan's army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Thursday, however, the Wednesday attack was "completely unprovoked and unjustified."
He said Pakistani troops near the village saw and heard nothing to suggest the US forces were pursuing insurgents.
Citing witness and intelligence reports, Abbas said troops flew in on at least one big CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, blasted their way into several houses and gunned down men they found there.
He said Thursday that all of the dead were civilians.
A wave of violence has hit Pakistan in recent weeks, including suicide attacks that Pakistani Taliban leaders have claimed are revenge for military operations in the Bajur tribal region and the northwest's Swat Valley area.
Officials said Thursday clashes the previous day killed 37 militants.
Meanwhile, a military spokesman, Maj. Murad Khan, confirmed that a blast occurred in North Waziristan and that authorities were investigating.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials said a missile strike was suspected in the explosion, which left at least four dead in Char Khel village near the border.
Area resident Azeemullah Wazir said the blast destroyed a house known to host foreigners.
He said he had seen a drone in the area hours before he heard three blasts.
He later saw Taliban militants surround the site.
AP
Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:02pm EDT By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A deadly cross-border raid into Pakistan by U.S. commandos this week failed to capture anyone important and helped militants by enraging the Pakistani public, Islamabad's envoy in the United States said on Friday. "Unilateral action by American forces does not help the war against terror because it only enrages public opinion, Ambassador Husain Haqqani said in Washington. "In this particular incident, nothing was gained by the action of the troops," he said of the Wednesday attack on the South Waziristan village of Angor Adda that Pakistani officials said killed up to 20 people, including women and children. The predawn helicopter-borne ground assault is the first known incursion into Pakistan by U.S.-led troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The Bush administration has not officially acknowledged any U.S. involvement in the raid. But Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack targeted suspected operatives and aimed to disrupt safe havens for militants who threaten U.S., NATO and Afghan forces across the border. Haqqani declined to discuss details of the attack or his discussions with U.S. officials on the raid, which drew a furious response from the Pakistan government. But he said the U.S. commandos took "no one significant" and he warned that such actions "do the work of the militants by creating more support for them among the people." "We need more Pakistanis to understand the American perspective and be sympathetic to it, rather than enrage more Pakistanis against the United States," Haqqani said in remarks at a Washington think tank. While condemning the raid, the envoy said "we will not let this incident come between close ties and strong military, intelligence and political cooperation between our countries." Pakistan's two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies will elect a new president on Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is expected to win. Seeking to dispel increasing concerns voiced by the United States about Pakistan's will to fight militants, Haqqani said the elected government in Islamabad would have wider legitimacy than former president Pervez Musharraf, a military strongman who was Washington's chief ally in the war against terrorism. Musharraf offered the United States "one phone call, one person, one decision" but failed to deliver results because decisions were "taken quickly, without prior planning and they were taken in response to some phone call or some pressure," the ambassador said. Pakistan's democratically elected coalition government was more methodical and its troop deployments had political and legal legitimacy in a country where many people are suspicious of U.S. motives, he said. Haqqani pointed to recent Pakistani military campaigns in Swat and tribal regions that had killed 560 people affiliated with al Qaeda or the Taliban as an example of results achieved by the new government. (Editing by Anthony Boadle)
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