Musharraf admits secret deal with U.S. on drone strikes
Musharraf made revelations over the deal during an interview with CNN.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Former President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged his government secretly signed off on U.S. drone strikes, the first time a top past or present Pakistani official has admitted publicly to such a deal.
Pakistani leaders long have openly challenged the drone program and insisted they had no part in it. Musharraf s admission, though, suggests he and others did play some role, even if they didn t oversee the program or approve every attack.
In an interview this week in Islamabad to CNN, Musharraf insisted Pakistan s government signed off on strikes "only on a few occasions, when a target was absolutely isolated and no chance of collateral damage."
Still, his admission that Pakistani leaders agreed to even a limited number of strikes runs counter to their repeated denunciations of a program they long claimed the United States was operating without their approval. The drone strikes -- which the nonpartisan public policy group New American Foundation estimates have killed at least 1,990 people in Pakistan, including hundreds of civilians -- are unpopular in Pakistan.
