The US and Pakistan appear to have differences over the reported death of al-Qaeda terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri in a drone strike.Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday that they had receivedconfirmation of Kashmiri's death in a US drone strike in South Waziristan on Friday.Gilani told reporters in Quetta on Monday that America had confirmed that his death occurred on Friday.Rehman Malik told the media outside parliament on Monday that he could confirm 100 per cent that he Kashmiri is dead.However, State Department spokesman Mark Toner toldreporters in Washington that he had no confirmation ofKashmiri's death when he was asked about Gilani's remarks.Toner said in response to a flurry of questions at a news briefing that he had no comment and no way of confirming Kashmiri's death.Diplomatic sources in Islamabad too said there was noconfirmation of Kashmiri's death in the drone attack near Wana town of South Waziristan, that reportedly killed ninemilitants, including several from Punjabi Taliban.Meanwhile, it was revealed that a photograph purportingto show Kashmiri after his death – which was posted along with a statement from Kashmiri's group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami on the Shamukh al-Islam jihadist Internet forum – was actually a picture of Abu Dera Ismail Khan, a Lashkar-e-Taiba member killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
News On AIR | June 7, 2011 1:24 PM
US and Pakistan appear to have differences over reported death of Ilyas Kashmiri