2006年VOA标准英语-Missile Attack Fuels Anti-American Sentime

By Benjamin Sand
Islamabad
16 January 2006

Protesters hold their party flags as they take part in an anti-U.S. rally in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006  
  
Anti-American sentiment is running high in Pakistan, four days after a purported 1 U.S. air strike killed at least 18 people in the country's remote tribal 2 region. There has been no official comment from U.S. authorities, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has promised to address Pakistani concerns over the attack.

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday defended U.S. anti-terror policy in Pakistan, but refused to comment directly on last Friday's deadly missile attack.

U.S. media report the CIA likely planned the mission, which hit a suspected al-Qaida safe house in Pakistan's remote tribal region near the Afghan border.

Pakistan has lodged 3 a formal protest with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad over the incident, and Rice promised to address Pakistani concerns.

Despite U.S. and Pakistani officials' efforts to play down the incident, Islamic groups in Pakistan are openly blaming the U.S., and vowed 4 Monday to continue anti-American protests.

At least 5,000 people joined this demonstration 5 in Karachi on Sunday. Similar rallies were held in major cities and villages across the country.

Officials from Pakistan's largest opposition 6 party, the MMA, are also demanding that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz cancel his planned trip to Washington, which begins Wednesday.

Mr. Aziz called the attack "regrettable" on Monday, but said his visit would proceed as scheduled.
 

Pakistani tribal villagers view damage caused by airstrikes in village of Damadola, near the Afghan border  
  
Former Pakistani Senator Shafqat Mahmood says the missile strike has provided fresh ammunition 7 for anti-American forces inside Pakistan.

"There's a fairly widespread resentment 8 that Pakistan's territory has been violated by an ally," he said. "We've been strong supporters of the war on terror, and if your own territory starts to be hit, then it does create problems."

The attack occurred last Friday in the village of Damadola, about seven kilometers from the Afghan border. The tribal area is considered a relative safe haven 9 for Taleban and al-Qaida insurgents 10.

Media reports have quoted anonymous 11 U.S. and Pakistani officials as saying al-Qaida's deputy commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was expected to attend a dinner in Damadola on the night of the attack.

Officials here say the strike killed at least 18 people, but they believe Zawahiri was not in the compound during the attack. Local tribesmen claim the only victims were innocent civilians 12, including several women and children.

Pakistan has strongly condemned 13 the attack and indicated that it came from the Afghan side of the border.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have also warned local tribesmen against harboring suspected militants 14.

Pakistan's information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, spoke 15 to reporters in Islamabad a day after the attack.

"While this act is highly condemnable 16, we have been for a long time striving to rid our tribal areas of foreign intruders, who have been responsible for all the miseries 17 and violence in the region," he said.

Pakistan has deployed 18 some 70,000 troops to the region to secure the border and flush out suspected militants.