Nov. 21, 2010 (United Press International) -- Pakistan rejects new U.S. drone campaign ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Pakistan's foreign ministry turned down a U.S. request to expand missile attacks by high-flying drones outside the Afghan border region.
A spokesman for the ministry said Sunday that Pakistan would "not compromise on sovereignty" when it came to an increase on the missile strikes that target the Taliban and al-Qaida.
"We are allies of the United States in the war against terror," said spokesman Abdul Basit. "However, Pakistan will not compromise on sovereignty."
The Los Angeles Times said the announcement was not surprising. Drone strike are considered particularly unpopular among Pakistan's population.
The Times said it is believed Washington wants to step up operations over the city of Quetta, which is considered a stronghold of the Haggani network of Taliban fighters but also has about 900,000 residents. The Haggani are active in the fighting against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
U.S. drone attack kills 6 in Pakistan MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An unmanned U.S. drone aircraft bombed a suspected Taliban and al-Qaida compound in northwest Pakistan Sunday, killing at least six people, officials said.
A national security employee who asked not to be identified said the drone fired two missiles at a compound in North Waziristan, a northwestern region that borders Afghanistan, Geo News reported.
"The compound and a vehicle parked nearby were destroyed in the attack and at least six suspected militants are dead," the official said.
The remote and mountainous tribal area is known by Western intelligence agencies to be favored by Islamist rebels, who use the porous border to move to and from Afghanistan.
The use of the unmanned aircraft has become a point of contention between the Pakistani and U.S. governments. Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported officials in Islamabad nixed a U.S proposal to increase drone strikes, citing sovereignty concerns.
Abbas wants freeze in East Jerusalem CAIRO, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says peace talks will not resume with Israel until construction is frozen in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
At a news conference in Cairo following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Sunday, Abbas said the Palestinians reject U.S. attempts to impose a construction freeze on West Bank settlements without including East Jerusalem, the Egyptian daily Al-Masry-al-Youm said.
"We totally refuse this. Settlements must be frozen in Jerusalem or else we will not accept negotiation resumption," Abbas said.
Abbas said he told American government officials the P.A. does not support a U.S.-brokered deal asking Israel to extend a 90-day construction freeze in West Bank settlements in exchange for an incentives package, the Egyptian daily said.
Abbas said once he receives a U.S. response on the latest efforts to renew peace talks with Israel, it will be discussed among Palestinian officials before it is referred to the Arab Peace Initiative Follow-up Committee, the newspaper said.
Al-Qaida brags about bomb failures SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An al-Qaida online magazine is bragging about the failure of two bombs concealed in printer cartridges to reach the United States from Yemen last month.
The article, found online Saturday by the group calling itself al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said fewer than six people were involved in the plot and they spent only $4,200 while inflicting huge security costs to the United States and other Western allies, The New York Times reported Sunday.
"That is what we call leverage," the article in the 23-page English magazine said.
The bombs were discovered on FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and UPS cargo flights in London and Sanaa, Yemen's capital based on intelligence from Saudi Arabian officials. The parcels were addressed to synagogues in Chicago, although the Times said both addresses were outdated.
The magazine article mocked reporting of the incidents as a failure and suggested the fundamentalist militant group was adopting a "strategy of a thousand cuts," the newspaper said.
"To bring down America we do not need to strike big," the anonymous magazine article said. "In such an environment of security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch and thus we may circumvent the security barriers America worked so hard to erect."
