Wajid Shamsul Hasan
www.prideofpakistan.com
- Richard Edwards, London
- September 16, 2008
THE unprecedented raids by the US inside Pakistan could provoke terrorist attacks in London, Pakistan’s high commissioner to Britain has warned.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan said the attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects were making the streets of Britain less safe and that resentment was mounting among Pakistanis in the country, with community leaders calling for that anger to be “organised”.
His remarks followed outrage in Pakistan over five attacks in the past 10 days, including a ground assault in the town of Angoor Adda in which 20 people were killed. US officials said all were supporters of terrorism but Pakistan insists they were civilians, including women and children.
Mr Hasan said: “This will infuriate Muslims in this country and make the streets of London less safe. There are one million Pakistanis in the diaspora here and resentment is mounting.
“I’m being flooded by text messages from community leaders saying we must organise our anger. The Americans’ trigger-happy actions will radicalise young Muslims. They’re playing into the hands of the very militants we’re supposed to be fighting.”
A new US tactic to mount counter-terrorist operations inside Pakistan has met with hostility within Pakistan as well. This week Pakistani tribesmen, representing half a million people, vowed to join the Taliban if Washington did not stop cross-border attacks by its forces from Afghanistan.
Reacting to American missile attacks in north Waziristan last week, which followed an unprecedented cross-border ground assault earlier this month, tribal chiefs from the area called an emergency meeting on Saturday. They warned if the attacks did not cease, they would prepare an army to attack US forces and also seek support from tribal elders in Afghanistan.
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