Pakistani president terms U.S. drone attacks as problem in relationship

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 20 -- Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday termed attacks by American pilotless aircraft in the country's restive tribal regions as a problem in bilateral relationship.

Talking to reporters in Karachi the president said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the issue of drone strikes in his meeting with President Barack Obama at White House on October 23.

"Drone strikes have proven to be a problem, not a solution, time and time again," Hussain said after visiting the mausoleum of the country's founder.

He said Pakistan discussed the issue with the American officials and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will once again address this issue during his visit.

Sharif is scheduled to arrive in Washington later on Sunday on a three-day official visit, the first by a Pakistani Prime Minister in five years.

President Hussain said that improving trade between the U.S. and Pakistan is also on Sharif's agenda.

Sharif has also said he will take up the drone attacks with President Obama as these strikes violate sovereignty of the country.

The U.S. has rejected Pakistan's demand for an end to the CIA- controlled covert drone operations considering it as an effective tool to target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, has called on the U.S. to declassify information about operations coordinated by the CIA and clarify its position on the legality of unmanned aerial attacks.

Emmerson, who travelled to Islamabad for his investigation, said in a report that Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs has records of 330 drone strikes in the country's northwestern tribal areas since 2004. Up to 2,200 people have been killed, of whom at least 400 were civilians, according to the Pakistani government.